There is a Japanese play that tells of two sisters whose father was murdered by a samurai named Shiga. In secret, they trained themselves, and swore they’d avenge their father’s death. When they felt they were ready, they went to local leaders to ask permission to challenge Shiga to a duel. In the fight that followed, Shiga was killed. Finally the family honor was restored. This play is to promote the courage and strength of samurai women. It shows that not only men have the intelligence and force to win a battle.
In school, young samurai girls learned about ikebana : the art of flower arranging. And they learned the tea ceremony from their mothers. Conversely, boys learned calligraphy and Chinese writings as well as the samurai codes. If they wanted to learn to fight, they usually had to train themselves.
Samurai women were often forced into arranged marriages in order to increase the power of their families. They followed the same code of honor as the men, and were expected to show the same obedience to their fathers and husbands, as a samurai would to his master. Some samurai would take another wife if their own did not give birth to a boy. It was very important that a samurai had a son to pass down his belongings to.