Battle of Kōan 1281
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1281 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Japan | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Mongol invasions of Japan | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Goryeo, Kamakura shogunate, Mongol Empire, Yuan dynasty | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 33.6251, 130.3328 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Kōan, also known as the Second Battle of Hakata Bay, was the second attempt by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China to invade Japan after their failed attempt seven years earlier at the Battle of Bun'ei. In the summer of 1281, the Yuan invaded with two large armies. The Japanese defenders were aided by a major storm which sank a sizeable portion of the Yuan fleets. The invaders who reached the shore were repulsed shortly after landing. The Japanese called the opportune storm kamikaze (lit. 'divine wind'), a name later used in the Second World War for pilots who carried out aerial suicide attacks.
The first of the Southern force ships arrived on July 16, and by August 12 the two fleets were ready to attack Japan. On August 15 a major tempest struck the Tsushima Straits, lasting two full days and destroying most of the Yuan fleet. Contemporary Japanese accounts indicate that over 4,000 ships were destroyed in the storm; 80% of the Yuan soldiers either drowned or were killed by samurai on the beaches. The loss of ships was so great that "a person could walk across from one point of land to another on a mass of wreckage".
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Kōan (revision 1380643051), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Mongol invasions of Japan
- Battle of Bun'ei 1274
Browse more: battles in Japan · Asia · Medieval battles