Kamakura period / ESSENTIAL EVENT
The First Mongol Invasion of Japan
Forces of the Yuan empire and its allies attacked northern Kyushu, exposing Japan to a new scale of continental warfare.- Historical place
- 筑前国・博多湾
- People connected
- 2
Why it happened
Khubilai Khan’s Yuan government sent demands for submission before launching an expedition composed of Mongol, Chinese and Korean forces. The Kamakura government ordered warriors in Kyushu to prepare coastal defences.
What happened
The attackers landed around Hakata Bay after fighting on Tsushima and Iki. Japanese warriors faced unfamiliar formations and explosive weapons. The invading fleet then withdrew; weather contributed to losses, though the campaign cannot be explained by a single miraculous storm.
What came next
The shogunate strengthened coastal defences and mobilised vassals for years without the prospect of captured land as reward. A much larger second invasion followed in 1281.
Why it still matters
The invasion tested the shogunate’s military coordination and finances. The cost of permanent defence, combined with limited rewards, intensified tensions within the vassal system.
PLACE
Read the landscape
Fukuoka’s Genko Borui stone defences and museum collections show how Hakata Bay was prepared for the second invasion.
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People in this story
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SOURCES
Evidence and further reading
Source titles and descriptions are shown in Japanese so you can identify the original institutional page.