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14:52
Real Ghost of Tsushima - Mongol Invasion of Japan DOCUMENTARY
Kings and Generals
·
May 11, 2026
Open on YouTube
Transcript
0:06
The fierce resistance on the beaches of Hakata
Bay and the cataclysmic encounters with typhoons
0:12
- later known as the kamikaze - stand tall
in the popular memory of the Mongol invasions
0:17
of Japan both within and outside of the country.
0:21
Having covered the course of the two invasion
attempts previously, we will now cover the
0:26
first clash between Mongol horse archers and
Samurai warriors, and their spirited defence
0:32
of the islands of Tsushima and Iki.
0:34
By the way, we have a podcast covering the
history of the Mongols, the links are in the
0:39
description.
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The island of Tsushima is situated between
the southern coast of Korea and the Japanese
1:47
island of Kyushu.
1:48
Only a short distance from Korea, Tsushima
was a prominent base for Japanese pirates
1:54
to raid Korea, known as wakō.
1:57
As Tsushima itself was mountainous with little
arable land, many turned to providing for
2:02
themselves on the sea, either through fishing
or making the short trip to Korea.
2:08
In the thirteenth century the raiders found
Korea a particularly vulnerable target, as
2:13
the kingdom suffered continuously from a far
more fearsome enemy: Mongol horsemen of the
2:19
Great Khan.
2:20
Over a thirty-year period, Mongol forces repeatedly
invaded Korea, and the Korean King Gojong
2:27
was forced to seek refuge on an island.
2:30
During this destabilization, Japanese pirates
attacked Korea several times, though these
2:35
attacks ended by the time King Gojong made
peace with the Mongols in 1259.
2:41
It is these attacks which first brought the
Japanese, and Tsushima itself, to Mongol attention,
2:47
alongside rumours of the great wealth of the
Japanese monarchs.
2:52
When the new Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan began
sending envoys to Japan in the 1260s, demanding
2:58
they accept his Heaven ordained rule, Tsushima’s
close proximity to Korea made it a natural
3:04
stopover for the Khan’s messengers.
3:07
However, the Japanese government, the Kamakura
Bakufu under Hojo Tokimune, repeatedly refused
3:13
to even see Kublai’s envoys.
3:16
One returning group of frustrated envoys in
1269 captured two fishermen from Tsushima,
3:22
Tojiro and Yashiro.
3:24
The two were brought all the way back to the
court of Kublai.
3:27
There, the most powerful single individual
on the planet entertained two humble fishermen,
3:33
showing off his grandeur and demanding that,
upon their return, they would tell Hojo Tokimune
3:39
to show him proper respect, that the Khan
wished only to have the Japanese King at his
3:44
court, and to bequeath his fame to posterity.
3:49
On returning to Japan, the fishermen found
no more success than Kublai’s official envoys
3:55
did.
3:56
The continued diplomatic offenses were not
forgotten, and Kublai’s pretensions only
4:01
increased with the declaration of the Yuan
Dynasty in 1271.
4:06
With the fall of the key Song Dynasty stronghold
of Xiangyang, preparations soon followed for
4:11
an invasion fleet against Japan.
4:15
On the 2nd of November 1274 an armada of perhaps
20,000 Mongols, Northern Chinese, Jurchen,
4:22
Khitans, and Korean soldiers and sailors aboard
nearly 1,000 ships set out from Happ’o on
4:28
Korea’s southern coast.
4:30
Tsushima was where the hammer blow would strike
first.
4:34
By the evening of November 4th, the defenders
spotted the Mongol fleet off the Tsushima
4:38
coast.
4:40
Lacking naval powers beyond their small pirate
and fishing vessels, the Japanese had no way
4:45
to harry the Mongols at sea.
4:48
Tsushima was at that time controlled by the
Sō clan, whose head, Sō Sukekuni, was the
4:53
deputy shugo, military governor, of the island.
4:57
According to the Hachiman Gudokun, a Japanese
source written soon after the invasion, on
5:02
Tsushima there was a shrine to Hachiman, the
Japanese god of war.
5:07
Tradition holds that on the day the Mongol
fleet neared Tsushima, a fire broke out at
5:12
Hachiman’s shrine - a foreboding omen.
5:15
The fire was extinguished, and white doves
were seen gathering on the roof of the shrine.
5:21
As doves were the messengers of Hachiman,
Sukekuni interpreted it as a warning from
5:26
Hachiman: for why else would the god set fire
to his own shrine?
5:31
Some modern authors have interpreted this
as the doves having caused the fire, perhaps
5:36
from incendiaries tied to them and hence,
the opening salvo in the Mongol attack upon
5:41
the island.
5:42
Either way, news reached Sukekuni that a massive
fleet was approaching.
5:47
Sukekuni rallied his forces: some 80 mounted
Samurai and their retainers.
5:52
He led them through the night over rough terrain
to set up on the beach of Komoda, and prepare
5:58
for the dawn.
6:00
As the Yuan fleet neared Komoda beach early
on the morning of November 5th, Sukekuni sent
6:05
a small vessel out to inquire as to the purpose
of their arrival.
6:10
With the bakufu having rebuffed the Great
Khan’s envoys repeatedly, the time was well
6:15
past for talk.
6:17
Sukekuni knew chances of victory against such
a massive force were non-existent, yet lined
6:23
the defenders of Tsushima up for battle all
the same as the smaller enemy landing craft
6:28
neared the shore.
6:30
The primary weapon of the samurai was the
bow, their valuable and iconic yumi, with
6:35
which each warrior was highly skilled.
6:38
Like the Mongols, the Samurai fought as mounted
archers, though their maneuvers on horseback
6:43
could not compare to steppe nomads born into
the saddle.
6:48
The wealthiest samurai were well protected
in their colourful and distinctive yoroi,
6:53
though on a poorer island like Tsushima few
of the 80 samurai gathered by Sukekuni would
6:59
be so well armoured.
7:00
For sidearms, Sukekuni’s warriors had their
single curved blades, the predecessors of
7:06
the famous katana, while the remainder of
his forces were armed with little beyond spears
7:11
and naginata.
7:14
In contrast, the forces sent against him were
varied, commanded by the Mongol general Ho-tan.
7:20
Most of the infantry Ho-tan threw against
Sukekuni were Chinese and Korean levies raised
7:26
by the Khan, armed with spears, large wicker
or bamboo shields, and protected by cloth
7:32
and gambeson-like armours.
7:35
As per Mongol tactics, these troops considered
most expendable were sent in the first waves,
7:41
soaking up enemy arrows while the more valuable
Khitan, Jurchen, Turkic and Mongol horse archers
7:47
disembarked from the ships.
7:49
Generally lightly armoured but highly experienced,
their composite bows made them a deadly counter
7:55
to the samurai.
7:56
The sea voyage and need to lead their horses
from the landing craft meant they could only
8:02
slowly get into their formations, preventing
them from immediately trying to outflank their
8:06
enemies as was their usual practice.
8:10
While the Mongols readied their horses, the
Korean and Northern Chinese troops were sent
8:15
against the samurai.
8:16
Per Samurai tradition, battle began with a
whistling arrow sent high into the air; per
8:23
Mongol tradition, drums marked the start of
their own advance.
8:26
Sukekuni’s skilled archers took a heavy
toll on the foe marching up the beach.
8:32
As the Yuan forces neared them, challenges
for single combat by the Samurai went unanswered
8:37
by the Chinese and Koreans, marching as they
were behind rather un-samurai-like large shields.
8:44
Unused to the press[ure?] and greatly outnumbered,
Sukekuni pulled his men back to the treeline
8:49
where the Yuan advance was slowed.
8:52
Here, the swordsmanship of the samurai made
itself known.
8:56
One of Sukekuni’s closest comrades, Saito
Sukesada, brought down several of the Yuan
9:01
soldiers and one senior Mongol officer.
9:05
Standing over the fallen officer, Sukesada
shouted threats at the Mongols, calling on
9:10
any who dared face him in battle.
9:13
The Mongols responded with arrows, three of
which pierced the armour of Sukesada’s chest
9:18
and ended him.
9:20
In the tradition held in the history of the
Sō family, seeing the doom that awaited them,
9:24
Sō Sukekuni loosed the remainder of his arrows
into the Yuan, and led one final futile cavalry
9:31
charge into his foe.
9:33
In the end the defenders were slaughtered,
leaving the island open to the Mongols, and
9:38
over the following week Tsushima was overrun.
9:41
Towns were burnt, many were slaughtered, and
a number of women of the Sō family committed
9:46
suicide lest they fall into Mongol hands.
9:49
A worse fate awaited the prisoners.
9:52
Both Japanese and Yuan sources attest that
wire was threaded through the palms of the
9:57
prisoners, mainly women, who were strung along
the prows of the Yuan ships as a gruesome
10:02
necklace.
10:04
By the 13th of November, Tsushima had fallen
and Ho-tan ordered the fleet to the next island,
10:10
Iki.
10:11
Here, the deputy shugo Taira Kagetaka had
had time to prepare his forces, sending word
10:17
to Kyushu for aid.
10:19
After sending women and children to Hinotsume
Castle, he took 100 mounted Samurai and their
10:24
retainers to meet the Yuan fleet on the northern
beaches of the island.
10:29
Kagetaka’s forces held them off for a few
hours, slowing down the Yuan landing, but
10:34
were unable to prevent it.
10:37
As the Yuan foothold grew, Kagetaka had no
choice but to withdraw to Hinotsume Castle
10:42
in the evening.
10:43
Here, the small wooden walls would not long
provide shelter against the warriors who had
10:49
taken Xiangyang.
10:50
Kagetaka sent his daughter, Katsura-hime,
with a single samurai to take word to the
10:56
bakufu, and prepared for a hopeless last stand
as the Yuan encircled the castle.
11:02
Women and townspeople within the castle joined
in the defence, hurling what they could at
11:07
the enemy.
11:08
Catapults and Mongol arrows made short work
of those on the walls, and when Kagetaka attempted
11:13
to lead a valiant sally through the gates,
he found the Mongols pushing captive Japanese
11:19
before them, wire threaded through their palms,
living cover for Mongolian archers.
11:25
His numbers dwindling, Kagetaka led what was
left to the castle.
11:30
As fire began to engulf the fort and his remaining
men gave them what time they could, Kagetaka
11:36
watched his family commit suicide before he
too joined them in his final act of defiance.
11:42
Iki was thus overrun, and slaughter and other
atrocities followed.
11:47
Katsura-hime never made it to shore, her boat
coming too close to Mongol arrows.
11:53
Survivors, such as Katsura’s Samurai bodyguard,
brought news of the terrors on Tsushima and
11:58
Iki to the rest of Japan.
12:01
In popular tradition, upon learning of these
horrors the regent, Hojo Tokimune, stated
12:06
that this would be the most momentous occasion
of his life.
12:10
When asked by a nearby priest how he intended
to reply to the Mongol invasion, Tokimune
12:16
shrieked “Katsu!”
12:17
- Victory.
12:18
As we covered before, the Mongols would not
find victory on the shores of Hakata Bay,
12:24
where stiff Japanese resistance and an unexpected
storm pushed the remnants of the fleet back
12:29
to the Yuan realm.
12:31
Undaunted by the efforts of this small archipelago,
Kublai threw another, even larger fleet against
12:38
Japan after he had conquered the Song Dynasty.
12:41
In 1281 his forces returned to Tsushima and
Iki, though little information is provided
12:48
on these second encounters other than the
fact local defences once again fell quickly.
12:54
One detail provided is that Saito Sukesada’s
son, Sō Moriaki, continued in his father’s
13:00
legacy and fought the Mongols on the beaches
of Tsushima.
13:04
Another is that the crying of children in
the mountains of Tsushima alerted the Mongols
13:09
to the presence of families hiding there,
resulting in the deaths of 300.
13:14
Ultimately, the invasion of 1281 proved an
even greater disaster than the first, and
13:19
thousands of Chinese, Mongols, and Koreans
met their end in the sea off the coast of
13:24
Japan.
13:27
Local defenses on Tsushima and the Japanese
islands continued to be maintained during
13:31
the following decades for the possibility
of a Mongol return, which was threatened but
13:37
never materialized.
13:38
Emboldened, Japanese pirates once more began
to threaten the coast line, continuously attacking
13:44
Korea throughout the Yuan and Ming eras, and
in time ranging as far afield as Malaysia.
13:52
On Tsushima and Iki, memorials stand to the
brave samurai who stood against unstoppable
13:57
odds, local heroes who gave their lives for
the defense of their islands, small garrisons
14:03
against perhaps the most fearsome army in
history.
14:06
Once again, thanks to March of Empire for
sponsoring this video!
14:07
This free to download medieval MMO strategy
game is perfect for the fans of history and
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Wargaming.
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New players are protected from high level
attacks.
14:18
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14:23
We are planning more videos on the Japanese
and Mongol histories, so make sure you are
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14:32
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14:35
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14:47
This is the Kings and Generals channel, and
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— end of transcript —
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