I discovered something interesting today as I was searching through the internet for images that could spice up the blog and make it feel more "Kamikaze". The origin of the word is not what we automatically associate it with, those suicide pilots of World War II.
In the year 1281, Kublai Khan and his Mongol Army attempted to invade the islands of Japan by sea. Victory was at hand for the Mongols when suddenly, and unexpectedly, a great typhoon swept through off the coast of Japan and destroyed the Mongol forces and fleet enroute to Japan. The people of Japan considered this to be a great turn of fortune for them. They believed that this great storm was sent to them as protection from the heavens and is credited with saving the Japanese Empire. It was called the Kamikaze, or Divine Wind (Inoguchi xi).
What's truly amazing is that this happened not once, but TWICE. Both times it occurred when the Samurai were on the verge of defeat (they put up a better fight the second time around though.)
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