Tokiwa Gozen Passing Fushimi Momoyama in Snow: Shana, Ushiwaka, and the Demon Mother's Protectio

Inspired by Chikamatsu Monzaemon's "Tokiwa Gozen Tokufuri (Haratokiwa)" (1710)

The end of the Heian period (c. 1160). Minamoto no Yoshitomo, the leader of the Genji clan, is defeated and killed by Taira no Kiyomori.
The unparalleled beauty Tokiwa Gozen flees Kyoto with her three children, Imawaka, Otowaka, and the infant Ushiwaka (later known as Minamoto no Yoshitsune), born to Yoshitomo. The image of her shielding the infant Ushiwakamaru in her bosom (at the breast of her kimono) gives the impression of being pregnant, and also carries within her the "seed of the Genji (hope for the future)" that she will protect. The Genji clan suffers a crushing defeat in the Heiji Rebellion. The Taira clan begins their hunt for the remnants of the Genji. Tokiwa Gozen, realizing that her children would be killed if she were captured, flees with her three children on a snowy midwinter night, heading for Uda in Yamato Province (Nara Prefecture). A fierce blizzard hits the road. Holding the hands of young Imawaka and Otowaka, she walks with baby Ushiwaka in her arms, but the snow is deep and her footing is unsteady. The children begin crying from the cold and fear, and Tokiwa desperately encourages them, covering them with the sleeves of her kimono and warming them with her body heat. "You must not die until you have defeated your father's enemy," she declares, displaying a maternal obsession bordering on madness. Tokiwa manages to escape, but hears rumors that her mother, whom she left behind in Kyoto, has been captured and tortured by the Taira clan. "If I protect the child, the mother will be killed; if I protect the mother, the child (the future of the Genji clan) will be killed." Faced with the ultimate choice, Tokiwa resolves to surrender herself to Kiyomori at Rokuhara (Taira no Kiyomori's base) and beg for the lives of her mother and children.

Excerpts from the actual script:
"Tokiwa's spirit... rest in peace..."
"Snow..."
"Fall more frequently..."
"Please erase my footprints..."

"...It's cold."

"Don't cry...don't make a sound..."
"Don't cry...don't make a sound..."

"The eyes of my pursuers... shine..." ..."
"The eyes of the Heike clan... shine..."
"The dogs of Rokuhara..."

"Ushiwaka... become the rising sun... Shanao..."

"Because of my child... I am lost... on the path of darkness..."
"Namu... Hachiman... Daibosatsu..."

"Fushimi... Momoyama... bloody..." "Tears..."
"Don't call me mother... call me demon..."

"Ushiwaka... become the rising sun... Shanao..."

"Is that the sound of the wind...?"
"... the sound of hooves...?"

"Snow..."
"Falling frequently..."
"Please erase my footprints..."

"Fushimi... peach blossoms" Mountains...tears of blood...
"Don't call me mother...call me demon..."

"...snow."
Namu Amidabutsu, Tokiwa Gozen
"In my bosom...Ushiwaka..."
"Tokiwa's spirit...rest in peace..."

"Ushiwaka...become the rising sun...Shanao..."