Connection to Curriculum:
History: Japan
Social Studies: History’s influence on Modern Culture,
Archeology vs. History

Overview:
Kublai Khan, the grandson of the great Genghis Khan, proclaimed himself ruler of the Mongols in 1260. Under his rule, the Mongol territory grew to the largest land Empire in history stretching from the eastern shores of China and Korea to Syria in the Middle East and Romania in Europe; but just off the coast of Korea, sat the kingdom of Japan – protected from the Mongols’ grasp by less than 200 kilometres of storm-swept sea. In 1268, Kublai Khan sent envoys to the emperor and government of Japan demanding that the Japanese subjugate themselves to the Khan’s authority. The Japanese military dictatorship, the bakufu, ignored the Khan’s less than subtle request. Angrily, the Khan ordered his vassals in the newly conquered Korea to assemble a fleet for the invasion of Japan. In the fall of 1274, nine hundred ships carrying possibly 30,000 to 40,000 men set sail across the narrow straits between Korea and Japan’s Kyushu coast. Because of its proximity to the Asian mainland Kyushu is considered by many to be the birthplace of Japanese culture and the area through which mainland methods of writing, pottery making, and tea cultivation may have entered into Japan.