Kuriyagawa was a region where MINAMOTO no Yoriyoshi killed Sadato ABE in Zen Kunen no Eki (the Former Nine Year Campaign), and Yoritomo desired to subjugate Yasuhira in Kuriyagawa to imitate a joyous precedent.
厨河はかつて前九年の役で源頼義が安倍貞任らを討った地であり、頼朝はその佳例に倣い、厨河での泰衡討伐を望んだのである。