Uncovering the story behind the Mongol invasions of Japan

By twice repelling a Mongol invasion in the Middle Ages, the samurai earned a glorious place in Japanese history. Their victories in 1274 and 1281 were long ascribed to typhoons of divine origin that decimated the Mongol forces.

The success of the samurai, considered surprising given the strength of the Mongols, has intrigued historians and Asian studies scholars for centuries. Did the typhoons really happen? Were there really hundreds of thousands of Mongol soldiers? Were the Japanese forces really so much weaker?

In recent years, documentary and archaeological discoveries have reopened the debate, especially among historians and archaeologists. Jérémy Le Blanc-Gauthier wants to help shed light on this page of history in his doctoral dissertation at the Institute of Religious Sciences at Université de Montréal.

Le Blanc-Gauthier began by comparing different accounts of the invasions. "I wanted to find answers to things that I found surprising," he explained. He soon discovered a host of contradictions, silences and political motivations behind the typhoon story.

A love of Japanese history and culture

Le Blanc-Gauthier first developed an interest in the Land of the Rising Sun as a young teenager. First, it was the video game Pokémon, then manga and Japanese films, starting with the great director Akira Kurosawa. Incidentally, it was Kurosawa and his depiction of battles between samurai and the Mongols that inspired the 2020 video game Ghost of Tsushima. "It's a fascinating era!" said Le Blanc-Gauthier.

He went on to earn a combined Bachelor's degree in history and Asian studies, study Buddhism, and complete a Master's thesis on the Shinto religion in Japan. His intertwined interests in religion and history makes him well suited to revisit the legend behind the Mongol invasions of Japan.

A story shaped by politics and religion

Le Blanc-Gauthier sides with those who believe the typhoon story was a politically motivated invention. The Japanese refer to the two storms as "kamikazes," which means divine winds. Much later, the word would be used to describe World War II Japanese pilots flying explosives-laden planes, but that is a different meaning.

The Mongol attempts to invade Japan were immortalized in the writings of the aristocrat Kitabatake Chikafusa, who lived in Yoshino at a time when imperial power was wavering due to ruthless inter-family warfare. In invoking divine intervention, Chikafusa was claiming godly favour for his dynastic lineage. As Le Blanc-Gauthier put it, "Kitabatake was building political capital."

Invoking the divine also flattered the religious authorities in the temples and monasteries, who were happy to help out-although, according to some sources, they demanded compensation for services rendered. "The idea that the Mongol invasions were thwarted by divine intervention supported the argument that it was the will of the gods that Japan should forever remain as it was," explained Le Blanc-Gauthier.

Illustrated scrolls, a form of horizontal narrative common in the Middle Ages, were an invaluable source of information. Following in the footsteps of earlier historians, Le Blanc-Gauthier studied the most reliable illustrated scroll of the time, written at the request of a Japanese warrior. He found no mention of a typhoon, in either 1274 or 1281, but he did find a claim that the victory was due to divine intervention, specifically a kamikaze, in a religious text.

Doubts about Mongol invincibility

Other questions have been raised as well, particularly about the strength of the Mongol forces. It is said that 200,000 warriors and a fleet of a hundred ships attacked the coast of the Japanese archipelago. To investigate, Le Blanc-Gauthier consulted works that provide information and context on the Mongol forces of that time period. They suggest that these estimates are exaggerated and put the actual number at several thousand men. What's more, some argue that the Mongol soldiers, who were mostly Chinese and Koreans from recently conquered lands, were not necessarily the most motivated fighters.

Le Blanc-Gauthier also points out that the first invasion took place in November, after the typhoon season, and that the Japanese built a 19-kilometre defensive wall along Hakata Bay in preparation for the second invasion.

He also wonders about the reputation of the Mongols. While they certainly were a mighty force, having conquered all of Korea and part of China, were they really the bloodthirsty, ruthless warriors they are made out to be? There's no denying that their weaponry was more sophisticated than that of the samurai, and that the samurai tended to stick to hand-to-hand combat on horseback. But it's less certain that the Mongol fleet was strong enough to withstand tempestuous seas.

Lastly, invading Japan may not have been the Mongols' initial plan. The head of the Mongol empire at the time, Genghis Khan's grandson, wanted Japan to stop trading with Chinese provinces outside the empire's control. Historians agree that the Mongols made several attempts to press the point through diplomatic channels but the Japanese refused to back down.

In the thesis he is writing, Le Blanc-Gauthier questions whether some Japanese historians may have embraced a version of history rooted in literature. The tale may have started as an epic narrative, grown into a legend, and then found its way into the history books.

"There are many things that need to be clarified," he said. "It's a fascinating topic!"