Your Life as a Samurai: The Mongol Invasions of Japan

Japan, November 1274. You are a young samurai from Higo – and the sea in front of you is full of ships from the largest empire the world has ever seen. Live through the Mongol invasions of Japan: a childhood spent learning to shoot from a galloping horse, the battle at Hakata Bay against shields, drums and gunpowder bombs, the stone wall you build along the beach – and the typhoon of 1281 that the world still calls the "kamikaze". Plus the true story of Takezaki Suenaga, the samurai who made sure the world would never forget him. An animated history film, drawn in ink. Chapters 0:00 Japan, November 1274 0:32 Born in Higo: a samurai family 0:59 Trained to shoot from the saddle 1:14 Kublai Khan and his letter 1:43 The fleet of 1274 and Tsushima 2:02 Forget the movies: the bow, not the sword 2:37 Armor and horses 2:50 Bushido – a much later word 3:12 Battle at Hakata Bay 3:30 Gunpowder bombs 3:41 Hakata burns 3:55 The fleet is gone 4:11 Takezaki Suenaga 4:39 The ride to Kamakura 4:52 The Mongol Invasion Scrolls 5:29 A wall of stone along the bay 5:47 The invasion of 1281 6:09 Night raids 6:28 The typhoon: kamikaze 7:04 Victory – but no reward 7:32 Vietnam, Marco Polo and Columbus 7:59 What remains today 8:26 And you? Sources & further reading • Thomas D. Conlan, "In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Takezaki Suenaga's Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan" (2001), and Conlan's notes on the later additions to the scrolls • Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba – the Mongol Invasion Scrolls (c. 1293), Museum of the Imperial Collections, Tokyo – National Treasure of Japan (2021) • Takashima Kōzaki underwater site (Matsuura, Nagasaki) – national historic site (2012); wrecks of the 1281 fleet and the ceramic bombs ("tetsuhau") • Randall J. Sasaki, "The Origin of the Lost Fleet of the Mongol Empire" (Texas A&M University, 2008) • Genkō Bōrui – the stone wall along Hakata Bay, Fukuoka (national historic site) • Yuanshi (History of Yuan) and Goryeosa – the chroniclers' numbers: 900 ships (1274), 4,400 ships and 140,000 men (1281) • Inazō Nitobe, "Bushido: The Soul of Japan" (1899, written in English); Kōyō Gunkan (early 17th c.) – earliest written use of "bushidō" • Marco Polo, "The Description of the World" – the island of Cipangu • Engaku-ji, Kamakura (founded 1282) Many details are still debated by historians – numbers and dates are best estimates. Which life from history should we live next? Tell us in the comments! Subscribe to Sepia Saga – history, drawn in ink. #history #japan #samurai