April
25
/ 2022
The Mongols attempted two major invasions of Japan during the 13th century, in 1274 and 1281 AD, led by Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. On both occasions however, a massive typhoon (tropical cyclone) obliterated the Mongol fleet, forcing the attackers to abandon their plans and fortuitously saving Japan from foreign conquest. The Japanese believed the typhoons had been sent from the gods to protect them from their enemies and called them Kamikaze, meaning “divine wind.” Following the conquest of China in 1230 and Korea in 1231, Kublai Khan become the first emperor of Mongolia and renamed it the Yuan Dynasty, meaning “first beginning.” Just 100 miles (160 km) away, Japan feared an invasion and they had every reason to
