The Kamakura Period

On April 25, 1184, off the coasts of a beach known as Dan-no-ura, the mighty Minamoto and Taira clans engaged in an enormous sea battle. This tragic battle was the conclusion of the four-year Gempei War, which had been fought over the control of Japan. In the end, the Minamoto emerged victorious and their leader Minamoto Yoritomo assumed the leadership of Japan.

To prevent the corruption that accompanies politics from reaching his own warriors, Yoritomo established his own government away from the capital. This governemnt, based in Kamakura, was called the Bakufu and was comprised entirely of samurai. In 1192 Yoritomo persuaded the then 13-year old emporer to bestow upon him the title of shogun. Yoritomo then went on to establish the position of shogun as a hereditary office. After Yoritomo's death, the position of shogun was taken on by his sons. They proved inadequate, and the power in Kamakura eventually shifted over to the Hojo family. Meanwhile, conflict was arising between the Bakufu in Kamakura and the Imperial government in Kyoto over who was really in control. In the Shokyu War of 1221 the Imperial army was defeated and the Bakufu assumed total control of Japan. They could now appoint both the shogun and the emporer.

The Mongols

At around the same time, Genghis Khan and his Mongols were terrorizing the mainland. By 1271, the Mongols under Kublai Khan (Genghis' grandson) had conquered most of Asia. Turning his eyes overseas, Kublai sent emissaries to Japan brining demands that Japan recognize Mongol superiority. The prideful Bakufu sent back a negative reply, which earned the wrath of Khan. Soon both sides were preparing for war.

It is a great indication of the power of the Bakufu that it was able to unite the whole of Japan united against the common enemy. The first invasion came to Kyushu in 1274, and the Japanese were first horrified by what they saw. For the Japanese, war was only to be fought among warriors, but the Mongols did not share this view; for the first time the samurai witnessed the mass murder of innocent women and children.

The samurai were at several disadvantages. First, there had been virtually no real fighting in Japan since for almost a century, whereas the Mongols had been on a continuous tear through Asia for that length of time. The Mongol style of battle, which was more strategically oriented, was also a great obstacle for samurai, who preferred to simply charge into battle. Lastly, there were no recently built castles in the area, so at night the soldiers were forced to retreat into old castles dating from the Yamato Period, almost 600 years old.

Luckily, the Mongols had come unprepared. Underestimating the Japanese, they had not brought enough arrows to continue fighting for much longer. They were also concerned with a possible night ambush and the threat of approaching Japanese reinforcements. A tactical withdrawal was called. However, a great storm rose up that night, devastating the Mongolian ships as they tried to escape. In total, the Mongols counted their losses at 13,000.

For the next seven years Kublai Khan was occupied with affairs in China, giving the Bakufu a chance to organize a better defense. When the second invasion came, the defenses proved to be a success, and only one Mongol ship was even able to land on shore. The Japanese, eager for a fight, put out in their own ships to meet the Mongols out in the water. However, the realization soon came that they were only fighting the advance fleet, and that the much larger main fleet was on its way. Desperate for help, the Emporer sent an envoy to the temple at Ise to ask for divine assistance from his Imperial Ancestress the Sun Goddess.

That same evening, the prayer was seemingly answered. Like that night seven years prior the wind grew fierce, but his time it blew and blew for two days. By the time it was over, the Mongol fleet was in tatters, and the Japanese easily overcame the survivors. This became known as the kami-kaze ("divine wind"), and served as proof of Japan's divine protection from foreigners. In the 19th century, the term was used as a rallying cry for samurai opposed to Western influence. In World War II the "divine wind" came in the form of suicide raids.