The samurai of Japan are famous for being skilled warriors who followed a code of honor. In popular culture and museums, samurai are often depicted as men, which raises a question: Were any samurai women? Female samurai existed and there is some evidence that they fought in battle, several experts told Live Science. But how often they fought is a matter of debate, with some scholars calling it very rare and others suggesting it happened more often. Sign up for our newsletter (Image credit: Marilyn Perkins / Future) Sign up for our weekly Life's Little Mysteries newsletter to get the latest mysteries before they appear online. "Any woman born in the samurai status group was a 'female samurai' even if she never picked up a weapon, just as any man born into that status group was a samurai, no matter how wimpy/untrained/etc. he may have been," Sean O'Reilly , a professor of Japan studies at Akita International University, told Live Science in an email.…