canofhumdingers said:
They were certainly rare, but did exist. If you spend some time on google you'll find out about the more famous accounts. The following link provides a decent general overview of what is known.
http://www.military-history.org/articles/samurai-wars/female-samurai-warriors.htm
That's very interesting, thanks. But, the occasional aberrant female samurai aside, the point stands that samurai and indeed warriors in general, has throughout history been a primarily male profession.