Awazu in the Snow

Act II — The War at World's End Released Approx. 4:25

Verse 1

The snow came down at Awazu
Before the battle touched the ground
He rode ahead of everyone
And I was told to turn around

I did not turn
I did not slow
I followed where his banner fell
Into the white

Pre-Chorus

He said to me
Go now — go far
Let this morning be
The last time that you see me fall
I said nothing
I have never learned
How to leave

Chorus

Awazu in the snow
Where everything I swore
Came down to this one road
And the choice I couldn't make
Awazu in the snow
I watched the dynasty break
And I could not stay
And I could not go
Awazu in the snow

Verse 2

They found him in the shallows
Where his horse had lost its feet
A general brought low
Not by blade but by the deep

I was already gone
The way he told me to be gone
But gone is not the same
As not knowing

Pre-Chorus

He called it mercy
Sending me away
I called it something else
On every road after that day
Every dawn after that day
Every sword after that day

Chorus

Bridge

The chronicles say
She departed
They do not say
Where she went

They do not say
What it cost her
To obey
Just this once

Final Chorus

Awazu in the snow
Where everything I was
Came down to letting go
Of the one thing I would not break
Awazu in the snow
Where the dynasty finally fell
And I rode away
As he told me to
Awazu
In the snow

The history

21 February 1184 · Awazu, on the southern shore of Lake Biwa

Source: Heike Monogatari, Book 9; Azuma Kagami records Yoshinaka’s death without naming Tomoe

Named figures

Tomoe Gozen Onna-musha at Yoshinaka’s side until ordered away; the rider the Heike follows out of the chronicle
Minamoto no Yoshinaka Killed at Awazu, age 30; betrayed by the terrain when his horse went into a frozen ricefield
Imai Kanehira Yoshinaka’s milk-brother; the last man standing beside him at Awazu; killed himself moments after Yoshinaka fell

What this song renders

The Battle of Awazu is one of the better-attested engagements of the early Kamakura period. Yoshinaka, alienated from the imperial court and abandoned by most of his army, was caught at Awazu by his cousin Yoritomo’s forces under Minamoto no Noriyori and Yoshitsune. He had perhaps a few dozen riders left. The Heike, the Genpei Jōsuiki, and the Azuma Kagami all describe the day, with varying detail.

The Heike alone tells us that Tomoe was there. In its account, after the head of Uchida is taken, Yoshinaka turns to her and orders her to flee, saying it would be a lasting shame for him to die with a woman beside him. She protests, then obeys, and rides east. After this point in the narrative the Heike does not follow her.

Yoshinaka was killed shortly after. His horse stumbled into the half-frozen mud of a flooded ricefield; he was shot through the head by Miura Ishida no Tamehisa. Imai Kanehira, his milk-brother, killed himself moments later. The Kiso branch of the Minamoto ended at Awazu.

Verdict

Yoshinaka’s death and the location of Awazu are well-documented across multiple sources. Tomoe’s presence and the order to flee are Heike-only. The chronological precision of the song — the cavalry gone, the horse in the shallows, the rider east — tracks the Heike’s sequence.

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