Mongol Invasions of Japan: Tsushima to Hakata Bay

The first blow fell on Tsushima. After setting out from Korea, the fleet began landing two days later, and the main landing was at Komoda beach. Deputy governor Sō Sukekuni met them with just 80 mounted samurai. The Sō clan history describes the invaders as "8,000 warriors embarked on 900 ships". The small garrison was quickly defeated. A monument stands on the beach today.

Para el visitante: A monument stands on the beach itself.

The fleet left Tsushima on 13 November and attacked Iki Island. Governor Taira no Kagetaka gave a spirited defence with 100 samurai and the local armed populace before falling back to his castle by nightfall. The next morning he was surrounded. A samurai named Sōzaburō slipped away by ship and reached Hakata Bay to report Iki's defeat, which is how the mainland learned that the invaders were close. Many of the island's inhabitants were killed in the invasions.

Precisión del lugar: The pin marks Iki Island as a whole; the castle where Kagetaka made his stand is not located here.

The Yuan fleet landed in Hakata Bay on 19 November, and the Battle of Bun'ei, also called the First Battle of Hakata Bay, followed the next day. The invaders advanced behind shields and threw bombs that frightened the Japanese horses and made them uncontrollable. A low-ranking samurai, Takezaki Suenaga, attacked the Mongols anyway after being told to wait. Both invasions are sometimes called the Battle of Hakata Bay, and today the bay is part of the city of Fukuoka.

Precisión del lugar: The accounts name the bay, not a single beach; the pin marks the bay's general area.

During the first invasion the Japanese defenders were pushed back from several landing sites, and in the skirmishes Hakozaki Shrine, founded in 923, was burned to the ground. When it was rebuilt, a calligraphy reading Tekikoku kōfuku, "surrender of the enemy nation", was put on the tower gate. The shrine is in Fukuoka and can still be visited.

Para el visitante: Look for the tower gate with the calligraphy "Tekikoku kōfuku".

After the failed first invasion, the Kamakura shogunate began a series of projects in 1275 to prepare for the next one. They ordered a large stone wall at likely landing points, including Hakata Bay. When the second invasion came, the finished part of the wall prevented the enemy from landing at Hakata. Most of the stones were later used to build Fukuoka Castle, and the wall was named a National Historic Site on 30 March 1931.

Precisión del lugar: The wall ran for kilometres along Hakata Bay; the pin is the Wikipedia point for the wall, not one surviving section.

In 1281 some Mongol ships came ashore at Hakata but could not make it past it and were driven off by volleys of arrows. The invaders were forced to anchor their ships at Shikanoshima Island, and the fighting dragged on for several months. Today Shikanoshima is joined to the Fukuoka mainland by a causeway, so it is easy to reach.

Precisión del lugar: Sources say the fleet anchored at the island, not at a particular cove; the pin marks the island.

Para el visitante: Reached by the causeway from the mainland.

On 15 August 1281 a great typhoon, known in Japanese as kamikaze, struck the fleet at anchor. Thousands of soldiers were left drifting on pieces of wood or washed ashore. After being stranded for three days on Taka island, tens of thousands were attacked and captured by the Japanese. A Korean source says that of the 26,989 Koreans who set out with the Eastern Route fleet, 7,592 did not return. The invasion was over.

Precisión del lugar: The source says only "Taka island" and does not give the exact site of the stranding; the pin marks Takashima in Matsuura.