The Battle of Awazu was the final battle of a civil war fought between the Kamakura and Kiso branches of the Minamoto clan during medieval Japan's Genpei War.
Minamoto Yoshinaka's rule, after his victory at Kurikara, was so vicious that his own clan took up arms against him. He was driven out by his cousins Minamoto Yoshitsune and Minamoto Noriyori. After an initial defeat at the Second Battle of Uji, Yoshinaka faced his foes at Awazu. Fighting alongside him were his trusted companion Imai Kanehira and his wife, Tomoe Gozen. Yoshitsune and Noriyori won after a hard fight. Yoshinaka was killed by an arrow after his horse was immobilized. Tomoe Gozen also died, though only after claiming the head of a samurai opponent. Facing defeat, Imai Kanehira committed seppuku in the original fashion by plunding headfirst off his horse with a sword in his mouth.