In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Takesaki Suenaga’s Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan
Translated by Thomas D. Conlan
This volume, published the East Asian Program at Cornell University, presents a fundamental revision of the thirteenth-century Mongol invasions of Japan by revealing that armies of medieval Japan were capable of fighting the Mongols to a standstill without the aid of any ‘divine winds’ or kamikaze. This translation includes two scrolls commissioned by Takezaki Suenaga, a warrior who fought against the Mongols, as well as nearly seventy administrative documents, which shows how the Japanese government prepared defences and dealt with the invasions of 1274 and 1281. These are the first English translations of its kind, and are very useful for scholars interested in this conflict. For more information about this book, please go to this website.
Professor Conlan has generously allowed us to republish the interpretive essay that he includes in this book:
In Little Need of Divine Intervention (pages 254 – 276) of this volume (PDF file)
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This essay is divided into six sections:
- Rationales for the Mongol Invasions
- Inspections and Rewards
- Estimating Troop Strength
- Tactics
- Aftermath
- Society, Religion, and War
This item is copyright 2001 by Thomas Conlan. From In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan. Cornell East Asia Series No. 113 (Ithaca: Cornell University East Asia Program). We thank Professor Conlan for his permission to republish this section. No part of this book may be republished or utilized in any form without permission of the author.
