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Writer's pictureRodrigo Fernández

The Divine Wind that Freed Japan

The historical conflict behind the Ghost of Tsushima.


Jin Sakai with the moon at the background.
The game takes inspiration in real events.

Kublai Khan, the main antagonist in Ghost of Tsushima was the grandson of Genghis Khan. He led the Mongol invasion of Japan in the 13th century. To be more precise, it took place between 1274 and 1281. Let's take a look at the real events that inspired the video game.


The first invasion.

The first invasion took place in 1274, the Mongols set sail from Masan in today’s South Korea and arrived at the southeastern coasts of the Island of Tsushima. This was the result of six failed attempts for peaceful submission to the Mongols.


These meetings took place between 1266 and 1273. Mongols and Koreans sent envoys to Japan with the intention of submitting the Japanese people to the Mongol empire. The Japanese completely disregarded their demands.


The Koreans were hesitant to send their envoys and wanted to dissuade Kublai Khan of submitting Japan to the Mongol empire. Tensions rose, and fear among top Korean officials was looming. They finally yielded and ended up sending envoys to Japan along with the Mongols.

As mentioned above, negotiations were not an easy task. It took several attempts over the next few years to convince Japan to submit to the Mongolian Empire. Naturally, Japanese being a proud civilization, utterly disregarded their demands.


Kublai Khan being the Mongol’s leader, was truly clear on his objective, he wanted to expand the Mongolian empire beyond the mainland, and Japan was a very strategic target. The next step was to gather forces and attempt an invasion to Japan.


Tsushima, 1274.

Kublai Khan’s plan was to attack the islands of Tsushima and Iki before heading towards Kyushu. The Japanese on the other hand, had to deploy forces scattered throughout the coastline on these islands to fend off the Mongolian forces.


The Mongols managed to make several landings on these islands and slowly started to gain control. They managed to secure control of the whole island of Tsushima in a matter of days.

The next target was Iki Island, also featured in the game. The Japanese could only do so much against the vastly superior Yuan fleet. The Mongols eventually took over the island, causing much devastation along the way.


With the islands under Mongol control, they finally set sail towards Kyushu, and disembarked in Hakata Bay. The Japanese had time to amass forces and were ready for a more equal battle. It is mentioned that each side had around three thousand soldiers.


The battle of Bun'ei.

The Yuan forces settled on Hakata Bay and moved forward. It is said that they were able to kill a third of the Japanese army and were slowly advancing inland and destroying Hakata on its way. The Japanese were preparing for one final stand at Mizuki Castle, however, that final attack never happened.


It is said that the Yuan army was exhausted and that they returned to their ships due to the fear of an ambush at night, while they were sleeping. But why did they not return on the next day?


A premonishing wind.

Dawn came upon, and on the coastline of Hakata Bay most of the Yuan fleet had simply vanished. Japanese records mention that a heavy wind from the east blew back the fleet. Most of them crashed on rocks and were destroyed. The remaining ships were breached by Japanese forces, and many Yuan soldiers were captured.


The great typhoon is known to the Japanese as kamikaze, or the divine wind. It is estimated that the Yuan army lost around two hundred ships.


The second invasion: ghosts of the past.

After the catastrophe, Kublai Khan and the Mongol empire gathered forces to attempt a second invasion. The plan was similar to the first attempt seven years ago. They first sent emissaries to try to peacefully get Japan to surrender, however, their reaction was harsher than before. This time, they beheaded the emissaries sent in 1275 and 1279.


After the unsuccessful negotiations, The Mongols invaded again the islands of Tsushima and Iki and caused havoc along the way. The next step was to land in Nagato and Hakata Bay once again. This time, the Mongol army encountered a much better prepared Japanese army. They built forts along the coastline, and the armies were better organized. The battle lasted for a couple of weeks, and it reached a stalemate.


The Kamikaze strikes

It is said that a great typhoon completely decimated the fleet stationed in the west. The remaining forces retreated unsuccessfully because the storm wreaked havoc on the fleet. The Japanese army seized control of the few remaining ships and eliminated the little forces still standing.


This great typhoon is called Kamikaze, or Divine Wind by the Japanese.


It is said that this failure heavily impacted the Mongol empire which had most of its fleet built in Korea. Lack of resources played a fundamental role because most of it was used in building the fleet used for the second invasion.


The result was that the Mongol empire lost most of its naval capabilities, deterring any invasions, and even weakening their defensive forces.


Japan made a name for itself and was feared among its neighboring countries. It is said that, yet another invasion of Japan was discussed multiple times by the Ming dynasty, however, they never materialized because of the results attained in the past.



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