However, both times, the fleet Mongolia was destroyed by a big storm, saved Japan from the invasion of the mighty empire at that time. The Japanese believe that storms are sent from the gods to protect them from their enemies and call it Kamikaze, which means “God of Wind”, or “God of Wind”.
Wind god wins invaders
After the conquest of China in 1230 and Korea in 1231, Kublai Khan founded the Yuan Dynasty in Chinese history. Just 160km by sea from its giant neighbor, the Japanese were always worried that an invasion would come at any moment.
In fact, from 1267 to 1274, Kublai Khan sent many messages to the Emperor of Japan, asking him to submit to the emperor. Mongolia, otherwise the country would be ravaged by a devastating attack. However, the messengers were intercepted by the Shogun, who had the real power behind the throne, and these messages never reached the Emperor.
Kublai Khan was very angry because he did not receive a reply from the “ruler of a small country”, so he vowed to invade Japan by force. He ordered the construction of a powerful fleet of warships and recruited thousands of warriors from China and Korea to accomplish this goal.
In the fall of 1274, the Mongols made their first invasion of Japan, with a battle known as the “battle of Bun’ei”. An estimated 500-900 ships and 40,000 warriors have reached the shores of Hakata Bay. Here, the Mongols launched a fierce attack, forcing the Japanese to retreat.
However, fearing the Japanese would return with massive reinforcements, the Mongols withdrew to their ships to avoid a surprise ambush. That night, a storm hit Hakata Bay, sinking most of the Mongol ships, killing thousands of people. Thanks to that, the Japanese escaped the war.
However, it’s not over yet. The Mongols were still determined to conquer Japan. They reinforced the fleet and recruited large numbers of warriors. Meanwhile, Japan has also prepared forces to defend, building 2m high walls surrounding Hakata Bay in case of future attacks.
Seven years later, the Mongols returned with a massive fleet of 4,400 ships and an estimated 70,000 to 140,000 soldiers to launch a second invasion of Japan. One fleet of warships sailed from Korea, another from southern China.
The two joined together near Hakata Bay in August 1281. Unable to find a suitable landing site because of the walled walls, the fleet had to anchor outside and had difficulty with food supplies.
On August 15, the Mongols prepared to launch an all-out attack on the small Japanese armies defending the island of Kyushu. However, a great storm came again, sinking the fleet and foiling the Mongol invasion once again.
Contemporary Japanese documents show that more than 4,000 ships were destroyed and 80% of soldiers drowned or were killed by samurai on the beaches. From then on, the Mongols never attacked Japan again.
Legend of Kamikaze
The suicide pilot of the Divine Wind Squadron.
According to Japanese legend, Kamikaze was created by Raijin, the god of lightning, thunder, and storms, to help defend Japan against the Mongols. One of Japan’s oldest deities, belonging to primordial Shinto, Raijin is also known as kaminari (derived from the kami “soul” or “god” and nari “thunder”). . Another variation of the legend says that the Kamikaze storms were created by Fujin (the god of wind).
In the 1980s, experts discovered shipwrecks off the island of Takashima in southern Japan. They were then repositioned in the 1990s by a team of Japanese archaeologists.
Other shipwrecks have also been found since 2011, after years of searching by the Okinawa Kyushu Underwater Archaeological Association. These are ships supposedly belonging to the Mongols that were sunk by the storm.
In 2014, National Geographic reported that geologist Jon Woodruff had found evidence supporting the legend of the kamikazes that saved Japan from Mongol invasion. By excavating sediment from the bottom of a lake near the coast of Japan, the scientists concluded, they had “pretty solid evidence of two intense floods in the late 13th century”.
Considering the timing of the two typhoons, which perfectly coincided with the two invasions of Japan, it is easy to see why these great storms were seen as gifts from the gods. If it weren’t for the two kamikaze storms, Japan might well have been conquered by the Mongols, creating a very different future in the country.
The term kamikaze was later used during World War II to refer to Japanese suicide pilots who dared to plunge their planes into enemy targets, usually warships. With this tactic, they inflicted a lot of damage on the US fleet.
The kamikaze movement grew out of despair, when it became clear that Japan would lose the war. The word kamikaze has been incorporated into everyday English to refer to people who take great risks without regard for their own safety.
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