Battle of Awazu
Part of the Genpei War

Tomoe Gozen defeats Uchida Ieyoshi and Hatakeyama Shigetada.
DateFebruary 21, 1184
Location
Awazu, Ōmi Province
Result Minamoto no Yoshitsune et al. victory; Minamoto no Yoshinaka killed
Belligerents
Minamoto clan loyalists Minamoto clan rebels
Commanders and leaders
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Minamoto no Noriyori		 Minamoto no Yoshinaka  †
Imai Kanehira  †

Minamoto no Yoshinaka made his final stand at Awazu, after fleeing from his cousins' armies, which confronted him after he attacked Kyoto, burning the Hōjūjiden, and kidnapping Emperor Go-Shirakawa. During the pursuit he was joined by his foster brother Imai Kanehira and Tomoe Gozen.[1][2]

During the battle, they fought valiantly, holding off Noriyori's large force of thousands of men for a time. However, in the end, they both died in battle.

Yoshinaka was struck dead by an arrow when his horse became mired in a paddy field. Kanehira committed suicide by leaping off his horse while holding his sword in his mouth.[3][4][5]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Sansom, George (1958). A History of Japan to 1334. Stanford University Press. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0804705232.
  2. ^ Turnbull, Stephen (2016-07-28). The Gempei War 1180–85: The Great Samurai Civil War. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 58–63. ISBN 978-1-4728-1385-5.
  3. ^ Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. Cassell & Co. p. 204. ISBN 1854095234.
  4. ^ Turnbull, Stephen (1977). The Samurai, A Military History. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 66. ISBN 0026205408.
  5. ^ The Tales of the Heike. Translated by Burton Watson. Columbia University Press. 2006. p. 88. ISBN 9780231138031.

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