page_title: Mongol invasions of Japan
section_title: First invasion preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Mongol invasions of Japan / First invasion preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: Two Samurai with a dead Mongol at their feet. The one on the right is possibly Sō Sukekuni, the defending commander. Votive image at the Komoda Shrine at Sasuura on Tsushima.
context_page_description: The Mongol invasions of Japan, which took place in 1274 and 1281, were major military efforts undertaken by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty to conquer the Japanese archipelago after the submission of the Korean kingdom of Goryeo to vassaldom. Ultimately a failure, the invasion attempts are of macro-historical importance because they set a limit on Mongol expansion and rank as nation-defining events in the history of Japan. The invasions are referred to in many works of fiction and are the earliest events for which the word kamikaze is widely used, originating in reference to the two typhoons faced by the Mongol fleets.
  The invasions were one of the earliest cases of gunpowder warfare outside of China. One of the most notable technological innovations during the war was the use of explosive, hand-thrown bombs.
context_section_description: The invasion fleet was scheduled to depart in the seventh lunar month of 1274 but was delayed for three months. Kublai planned for the fleet to first attack Tsushima Island and Iki Island before making landfall in Hakata Bay. The Japanese plan of defense was simply to contest them at every point with gokenin. Both Yuan and Japanese sources exaggerate the opposing side's numbers, with the History of Yuan putting the Japanese at 102,000, and the Japanese claiming they were outnumbered at least ten to one. In reality there are no reliable records of the size of Japanese forces but estimates put their total numbers at around 4,000 to 6,000. The Yuan invasion force composed of 15,000 Mongol, Han Chinese, and Jurchen soldiers, and 6,000 to 8,000 Korean troops as well as 7,000 Korean sailors.
caption: Two Samurai with a dead Mongol at their feet. The one on the right is possibly Sō Sukekuni, the defending commander at Tsushima. Votive image (ema) at the Komoda Shrine at Sasuura on Tsushima.
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