"Tomoe Gozen Killing Uchida Ieyoshi at Battle of Awazu no Hara (1184)", print byIshikawa Toyonobu, c. 1750.
Under the leadership of Yoshinaka she commanded 300 samurai against 2,000 warriors of the rivalTaira clan during the war. After defeating the Taira in 1182 and driving them into the western provinces, Yoshinaka tookKyoto and desired to be the leader of theMinamoto clan. His cousinYoritomo was prompted to crush Yoshinaka, and sent his brothersYoshitsune andNoriyori to kill him.
Yoshinaka fought Yoritomo's forces at theBattle of Awazu on February 21, 1184,[11] where she is known for beheading Honda no Morishige, leader of the Musashi Clan.[12] She presented his head to her master Yoshinaka.[13] Although Yoshinaka's troops fought bravely, they were outnumbered and overwhelmed. When Yoshinaka was defeated there, with only a few of his soldiers standing, he told Tomoe Gozen to flee because he wanted to die with his foster brother.
There are varied accounts of what followed. She is also known for having killedUchida Ieyoshi and for escaping capture byHatakeyama Shigetada.[14] She then retired to become a Buddhist nun, remaining so supposedly until 1247 AD.[2]
^Pennington, Reina (2003).Amazons to Fighter Pilots - A Biographical Dictionary of Military Woman (Volume Two). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 437–438.ISBN978-0-313-32708-7.
Joly, Henri L. (1967).Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore Myths, Religious Symbolism, Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle.ISBN978-0-8048-0358-8;OCLC219871829.
Kitagawa, Hiroshi and Bruce T. Tsuchida, ed. (1975).The Tale of the Heike. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.ISBN0-86008-128-1;OCLC164803926.
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