北条時宗

Hōjō Tokimune became the 8th regent of the Kamakura shogunate at just eighteen years of age, and faced the greatest foreign threat in Japan's history: the Mongol invasions launched by Kublai Khan. During the first invasion (Bun'ei no Eki, 1274), a combined Mongol-Korean force of some 33,000 troops landed in northern Kyushu. Tokimune, then only twenty-four, coolly directed the samurai warriors who held the invaders at bay until a typhoon wrecked the fleet. Seven years later, in the Kōan no Eki of 1281, Kublai sent a staggering force of 140,000 men. Tokimune had prepared well — stone walls had been built along Hakata Bay to prevent landings, and samurai in small boats harassed the enemy for months. Another typhoon delivered the decisive blow. The two 'divine winds' (kamikaze) became central to later Japanese nationalist mythology, but the young regent's leadership and preparation were the true foundation of victory. A devoted practitioner of Zen Buddhism, Tokimune built Engakuji temple and studied under the Chinese master Mugaku Sogen. When asked how to face the coming invasion, the master replied simply, 'Maku bonnō — cast out delusion.' This Zen resolve became inseparable from the samurai spirit. Tokimune's era was also a pivotal moment in the evolution of the Japanese sword: the practical demands of the Mongol campaigns accelerated a shift toward shorter, less curved blades suited to close-quarters infantry combat, setting the stage for the later development of the uchigatana.