The Mongol Invasions of Japan
In 1274 a Yuan-Korean fleet of some 900 vessels and 40,000 men landed at Hakata Bay. Japanese defenders were outmatched by Mongol tactics but the invaders withdrew overnight, and a storm wrecked part of their fleet. In 1281 Kublai dispatched a far larger force — up to 140,000 men in 4,400 ships — the largest naval invasion in history to that date. Japanese defenders held the Hakata Bay defensive wall for weeks until a massive typhoon struck and destroyed the majority of the Mongol fleet. The storms were interpreted as divine intervention — hence kamikaze. The political aftermath was corrosive for the shogunate. Defending warriors expected rewards in the form of land, but there was nothing to distribute. Discontented gokenin grew alienated from Kamakura. Yet the episode burnished Japan's self-image as a divinely protected nation — an idea with fateful echoes seven centuries later when kamikaze pilots flew suicide missions in the Second World War.
- Year: 1274 CE
- Category: Military
