LITMIR.BIZ

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the wreckage as the remains of the fleet headed home, and most of these were killed in Japanese attacks over the following few days. The typhoon became known as the kamikaze (divine wind), sent by the sun goddess to aid her people.²³ It was this term, kamikaze, that the suicide pilots of World War II adopted as their title, thus identifying themselves with the successful destruction of an invader.

      Decisive though the typhoon was, it would have been minimal in its effectiveness if the determination and fighting qualities of the samurai had not forced the entire fleet to lie at anchor with all their armies on board, unable to establish a beachhead. The kamikaze has tended to overshadow such achievements, but there are many recorded examples of superlative samurai archery and swordsman-ship defeating Mongol forces.

      Swordsmanship is most evident in the “little ship” raids at Takashima, but on land, traditional samurai horseback archery was still much preferred. A good example of the latter is provided by the action fought by three generations of the Shōni family on Kyūshū and Iki. Shōni Kakuie was the governor of Dazaifu, and was in charge of a combined operation during the second invasion of 1281. The Japanese aim was to push the Mongol fleet further out into the bay by seaborne attack, while a mounted army speedily reinforced the coastal area, where a detachment of the Mongol army was expected to attempt its next landing. The arrival of the Shōni force put great heart into the defenders, who rallied to the attack, but there was a grave danger of the Japanese army being surrounded by the vastly larger Mongol force, who poured their customary showers of arrows down upon them. At this point Kakuie’s nineteen-year-old grandson, Suketoki, with supreme confidence, rode up to the Mongol lines where he had spotted a person who was obviously of very senior rank. Suketoki shouted out his name, put an arrow to his bow, and, without waiting for a reply, shot the Mongol general clean through the chest.

      This triumph provided just the inspiration the Japanese had been looking for, and proud grandfather Shōni Kakuie led the samurai in a charge into the midst of the Mongols, whereupon fierce hand-to-hand fighting took place. The battle continued until nearly dark, when Kakuie withdrew his troops to the safety of the Japanese fortified lines. One by one the stragglers withdrew, until only the contingent commanded by Kakuie’s son Kagesuke was left, and they were being pursued vigorously by a number of Mongol horsemen led by another general. As they came within bowshot, Shōni Kagesuke suddenly turned in his saddle and sent a well-aimed arrow into the Mongol leader.²⁴

      The next battle took place as the Mongols regrouped on the island of Iki, where the grandson, Shōni Suketoki, had his domain. A fierce fight with the retreating Mongols took place at Setanoura on the eastern coat of the island. Here Shōni Suketoki fought bravely to the last, and is commemorated on Iki as the island’s other great hero of the resistance against the Mongols. Like Taira Kagetaka, Suketoki has a shrine dedicated to him, and his fine equestrian statue stands in front of one of Iki’s main harbors.

      The experience of defeating the Mongols was one never to be forgotten, and the exploits of the Kyūshū warriors joined those of their ancestors in the amalgam of myth and tradition that was to carry their memory through another six centuries. But we look in vain to discern any real changes in the techniques of combat as a direct result of the experience. Even though the samurai had been faced in 1274 with an alien enemy with alien ways, the traditional ways of fighting as horseback archers had been found to be sufficient in most circumstances. Evidence for this is provided by the design of the stone wall around Hakata Bay, erected in anticipation of the Mongols’ return. The wall sloped down gradually at its rear so that horses could be ridden up it.

      There may, however, have been a fresh realization that different styles of fighting and behavior might have to be adopted at times. For example, the “little ship” raids of the 1281 invasion used fighting techniques profoundly different from those developed for a force of mounted archers. The ship-to-ship fighting required good swordsmanship, and it may perhaps have been Japan’s good fortune that the men who bore the brunt of the Mongol incursions were the same impoverished warriors of Kyūshū who had so recently exported their sword-fighting skills to the Asiatic mainland. As noted earlier, the names that appear most prominently in the “little ship” raids are from the established pirate families of Kyūshū, who were to be joined so enthusiastically by such grandees as Takezaki Suenaga.

      The Pirates Return

      When Zheng Sixiao, a Chinese scholar who was committed to the restoration of the Song Dynasty, heard of the defeat of the ruling Yuan emperor by the Japanese, he was ecstatic, and composed a poem to celebrate the victory. But he was also very wary of the Japanese, writing that they were “fierce and do not fear death,” and that ten Japanese soldiers would fight an enemy unit of one hundred men. He also made a particular reference to Japanese swords, writing that “their swords were extremely sharp.”²⁵ Similar comments were recorded in a later description of the wakō made to the king of Korea. This account states that the pirates were a distinct subgroup of Japanese. They took their families on their boats with them when they went on raids. Their dark skin, sun-bleached clothing, accessories, and language all differed from those of other Japanese. They were skilled at using bows and swords, and adept at diving under water and boring holes in the bottom of enemy boats.²⁶ Later descriptions are expressed in a very similar vein, as for example the Riben kao of Ye Xianggao:

      It is their habit to be fond of looting. They disdain life and are bloodthirsty.... The blades of the Japanese swords are sharp. Chinese swords are inferior. The men go hatless and their hair is dishevelled. They have branded faces and tattooed bodies.²⁷

      Bu Datong added in his Bei Wo tuji that the Japanese “make their homes on islands and use boats instead of horses. They are adept with swords and spears, and use them on their raids.”²⁸

      Zheng Sixiao’s wish for the end of the Yuan Dynasty came true in 1368 when Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398), who had overthrown the Mongols in the previous year, became China’s first emperor of the Ming dynasty. As was customary, the new emperor dispatched missions to neighboring countries, including Japan, to inform them of this momentous development. As was also customary, he encouraged the recipients to send tribute to the new Son of Heaven. By this time the Japanese had clearly returned to piracy, because the message he sent to Japan in 1369 included the words, “Japanese pirates repeatedly plunder areas along the coast, separating men forever from their wives and children and destroying property and lives.” He went on to demand that Japan should either send tribute and declare itself a vassal state of China, or ensure by military means that its least attractive exports stayed at home. In fact the wakō were now raiding further than ever, taking in the Chinese provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian.²⁹

      The Ming embassy was received at Hakata by Prince Kanenaga, who had been sent to Kyūshū by the “Southern Court.” This is the name given to one of the two warring imperial factions whose rivalries dominated Japanese politics and warfare during much of the fourteenth century. The wars between them are known as the Nambokuchō Wars (the wars between the Southern and Northern Courts). The continued unrest meant that Prince Kanenaga lacked both the authority and the means either to consent to vassal status or to suppress the pirates. The embassy was therefore a resounding failure, a disaster compounded by the imprisonment of the unfortunate ambassador and the execution of some of his colleagues.

      In 1370 another envoy was sent to confront Prince Kanenaga over his failure to control his subjects. At first the threats seemed to be effective, and the necessary guarantees were given. It was only when the Chinese discovered that the prince was no more than a provincial military commander that they realized that his new promises of tribute and pirate curtailment were worthless. The Ming emperor was greatly displeased, and wrote that the Japanese were petty thieves with shorn hair and mottled clothes, who spoke a language that sounded like croaking frogs.³⁰ Numerous other Ming documents add descriptions of the cruelties of the Japanese pirates on their raids: When they attacked a community, they burned government offices and private houses to the ground, desecrated graves, and stole valuables. Murder and rape were commonplace. In 1439 in Zhejiang, children were tortured with boiling water, and pregnant women cut open by the blades of the Japanese swords.³¹

      Korea also suffered anew. During the ten years between 1376 and 1385, there were 174 recorded wakō

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