Your Doorway to Japan

Welcome to the New Nippon.com

Ships on the Seabed: Searching for the Mongol Empire’s Lost Invasion Fleet

  • Mongol Empire Invasion Routes to Japan

    Mongol Empire Invasion Routes to Japan

  • Clockwise from top left: A seal inscribed with Mongol script found at Takashima Kōzaki that is thought to belong to a company commander; lacquered combs; and bronze fixtures Mongol Empire soldiers attached to their belts from which to hang their weapons. (All courtesy Matsuura City Archaeological Center in Nagasaki Prefecture; © Nippon.com)

    Clockwise from top left: A seal inscribed with Mongol script found at Takashima Kōzaki that is thought to belong to a company commander; lacquered combs; and bronze fixtures Mongol Empire soldiers attached to their belts from which to hang their weapons. (All courtesy Matsuura City Archaeological Center in Nagasaki Prefecture; © Nippon.com)

  • Professor Ikeda Yoshifumi of Kokugakuin University. (© Nippon.com)

    Professor Ikeda Yoshifumi of Kokugakuin University. (© Nippon.com)

  • Ikeda investigates the seabed during the survey. (Courtesy Matsuura Board of Education)

    Ikeda investigates the seabed during the survey. (Courtesy Matsuura Board of Education)

  • A view from above of the first sunken ship discovered. (Courtesy Matsuura Board of Education)

    A view from above of the first sunken ship discovered. (Courtesy Matsuura Board of Education)

  • A computer-generated image shows how the Mongol warships are thought to have looked. (Courtesy Matsuura Board of Education)

    A computer-generated image shows how the Mongol warships are thought to have looked. (Courtesy Matsuura Board of Education)

  • A stone and wood anchor salvaged in 2022. It is unusual as it has only one anchor stone. (Courtesy Matsuura Board of Education)

    A stone and wood anchor salvaged in 2022. It is unusual as it has only one anchor stone. (Courtesy Matsuura Board of Education)

  • Anchor stones at Matsuura City Archaeological Center. (© Nippon.com)

    Anchor stones at Matsuura City Archaeological Center. (© Nippon.com)

  • Typhoons in Imari Bay

    Typhoons in Imari Bay

  • A copy of Mōko shūrai ekotoba (Illustrated Story of the Mongol Invasions) depicts shogunate troops dispensing with the remnants of the shattered Yuan army. (Courtesy Kyūshū University Library)

    A copy of Mōko shūrai ekotoba (Illustrated Story of the Mongol Invasions) depicts shogunate troops dispensing with the remnants of the shattered Yuan army. (Courtesy Kyūshū University Library)

  • The Ryūmen’an hermitage was the shogunate headquarters. (© Nippon.com)

    The Ryūmen’an hermitage was the shogunate headquarters. (© Nippon.com)

  • The grave of Hyōe Jirō. After traveling from Tsushima to warn the shogunate at Dazaifu of the Mongol attack, he died in battle on Takashima. (© Nippon.com)

    The grave of Hyōe Jirō. After traveling from Tsushima to warn the shogunate at Dazaifu of the Mongol attack, he died in battle on Takashima. (© Nippon.com)

  • Mongol Empire Outcomes in Japan

    Mongol Empire Outcomes in Japan

4 / 13

Click to View Article