The Origin of the "Divine Wind"

     After spending time on World War Two, particularly on the Japanese "kamikaze" pilots, I am now going to flip back some seven centuries to the time of Mongol Invasions of Japan.  It was at this time, during the two invasions, that the name, "kamikaze" or divine wind was applied to a typhoon or typhoons that helped to destroy the invasion fleet, not once, but twice!
     During the reign of Kublai Khan, the grandson of Chingis Khan, the Mongols had subjugated just about all of the known world, certainly most of Asia.  Some countries they conquered militarily, others they took under control through alliances and simple threat of military invasion.  Korea at that time was under Koryo Dynasty and was no match on the battle field for the Mongol army, but they would have caused problems for the invaders.  So, Kublai simply married one of his daughters to the Crown Prince of Koryo.  Through marriage, Koryo (Korea) became subjugated to the Mongol Empire.  However, there was still Japan, the island country, that was not part of the Mongol Empire. 
     Kublai sent emissaries to Japan and offered them a chance to become part of the empire without risking a war and possible total destruction .  However, the Japanese rebuffed the Great Khan, which angered him greatly and so he decided to invade the offending country.
     The first invasion took place in 1274 with 800 large and small ships and 24,000 troops.  About a 1/3 of the invading force was Mongol, another 1/3 Chinese, and 1/3 Korean.  But the invasion got off badly.  As the ships approached the Japanese shores a strong typhoon struck the southwestern tip of Kyushu where the invasion force was landing.  Much of the Mongol fleet was destroyed.  Those that managed to land were cut down by the Japanese defenders.  The invaders were in a hopeless situation, no reinforcements or supplies could follow them since the fleet sank in the typhoon, and so the first invasion was repelled.
     Kublai was furious and he didn't forget the Japanese rebuff nor the disastrous invasion.  He waited seven years, then in 1281, launched even a larger invasion with about 150,000 troops.  But as luck would have it, an even greater typhoon struck just about the time the ships were landing the troops and the whole invasion turned into a disaster.  Some Japanese believed that god was on their side and sent the typhoons to protect them, therefore, they called those typhoons "divine winds" or "kamikaze."  At this time there was a Buddhist monk by the name of Nichiren who was going around Japan trying to promote his type of Buddhism.  He insisted that all other forms of Buddhism were wrong, incorrect, and that his was the only one that properly interpreted the great Buddha's teachings.  He also went around suggesting that he had called upon the "great winds" (typhoon means great wind) to defend Japan and that these typhoons were indeed "divine winds."
     Nichiren Buddhism seems to always surface when Japan is in dire circumstances and needs help, divine or otherwise.  Just about the time the war started going badly for Japan in 1944, the Nichiren Buddhism resurfaced with a new name, Sokko Gakkai.  It attracted a lot of followers who, particularly following Japan's defeat, felt hopeless and sought some sort of help and support.  Sokko Gakkai grew into a powerful lobby in the Japanese government.  Although it has gone through numerous scandals (including the time it allied itself with Manuel Noriega in the 1970s!) and has lost considerable favor among people, it is still a political/religious group to contend with in Japan.
     The name "kamikaze" was revived during the waning days of World War Two as Japan desperately tried to find a way to defend itself.  Some though that by giving the suicide planes the  title of "kamikaze," that Japan would somehow be saved from foreign invasion, as those typhoons of long ago helped to defend Japan.  No Buddhist monk went around this time saying that he had called upon divine intervention.