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.

Yoshinaka was struck dead by a stray 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.