Complete Aikido. Christopher Watson G.

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      It is the eleventh century. The formidable mounted warriors of Khubilai Kahn have swept out of the steppes of central Europe on a campaign of conquest that will ultimately bring most of Western Europe, China, and all of Korea under Mongol rule. In November of 1274, the Kahn sought to expand his empire by sending an armada of 450 ships bearing some 15,000 troops from conquered Korea southeast across the relatively narrow Korea Strait to the latest object of his desire, the mountainous island chain of Japan. His intent: to take the southernmost island of Kyushu, then sweep northward until the entire chain was under his dominion. Expecting a repeat of his earlier victories, he was to be disappointed. After a day’s fierce fighting on the shores of Kyushu, the Mongol fleet limped home, unexpectedly repelled by the determined samurai forces they encountered.

      Angry and humiliated, Khubilai Kahn spent the next seven years assembling what remained until modern times the largest sea-borne invasion force in history. In June of 1281, the Kahn tried again, with ten times the troops. On June 23, the Mongols landed at several spots along Kyushu’s northwest coast, mounting a series of relentless attacks in an attempt to penetrate the island’s coastal defenses. However, though boasting superior weaponry and proven tactics, the forces of the Kahn were no match for the legions of samurai once again awaiting them.

      Some of the most fierce fighting took place outside the walled city of Hakata, overlooking Hakata Bay. Over the next fifty days the samurai, brandishing their cherished, razor-edged tachi (swords), held the Mongols to within a few miles of the coast. On the shore, samurai boldly boarded the lumbering enemy warships in daring “mosquito raids,” cutting down the crew before slipping away in their small skiffs to attack anew. By the end of August, the valor of the samurai, with help from a massive typhoon (known from that day on as kamikaze, or “divine wind”), which splintered and sank the Mongol fleet, the Japanese had once again successfully repelled the forces of the Kahn.

      Although many written accounts exist, there is but one detailed pictorial record of the second Mongol invasion. The samurai Takezaki Suenaga, who was also a veteran of the first invasion attempt, commissioned a series of scroll paintings to record his prowess during the battle of Hakata Bay. Known as the Moko Shurai Ekotoba, they today reside as part of the private Imperial Household Collection in Tokyo.

      The defeat of the second Mongol invasion marked the beginning of the end of Imperial rule in Japan and the rise of the samurai warrior class. Whereas before, court nobility and aristocrats wielded power, under the Shogunate the samurai ruled supreme, guided by the strict tenants of bushido, the way of the warrior. Samurai families flourished, the Suenaga clan not excepted, for the next five-hundred years.

      Although Suenaga’s fame for his exploits at Hakata Bay spread far, it was not enough to keep his creditors from his door. Heavily in debt from his war expenditures, he was hounded incessantly, to the point that he took the drastic step of changing his name, to Suenaka. A minor alteration, certainly, but evidently enough to avoid further financial persecution.

      The year 1867 marked the end of Japans feudal period, as the Emperor Meiji took advantage of growing dissent and factional fighting among regional shoguns and ascended the imperial throne, beginning the Meiji Restoration the following year. Rebellious samurai were ordered to lay down their arms, cut off their prized topknots, and turn to more peaceful pursuits, or face the Emperors punishment. Such was the case with the Suenaka clan, who gave up the sword in favor of the hoe and plow. Although the clans lineage was well-known, this simple vocation change was sufficient to placate the authorities, appearing as it did a renunciation (at least on the surface) of their martial tradition. Privately, however, the Suenaka clan continued to pass down the martial traditions of their ancestors from father to son, particularly jujutsu and kenjutsu.

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