The Mongol Invasions of Japan

In the late 13th century, the Kamakura shogunate (鎌倉幕府, 1192–1333) found itself facing an unprecedented threat from across the sea: the Mongol invasions of Japan (元寇). Khubilai Khan (1215-1294), the grandson of Chinggis Khan and the first emperor of the newly established Yuan dynasty in China, orchestrated these invasions. At the time of his accession as Great Khan in 1260, the Mongol empire spanned the Eurasian continent. Khubilai was simultaneously working to subjugate the last...