During the 13th century, hordes of Mongols swept through Asia and founded an empire that stretched from Eastern Europe to Korea. In 1260, after the fall of Imperial China to the barbarians, the Mongols began to look further east, towards Japan. In 1274, a Mongol army landed on the southern island of Kyushu and fought a fierce battle against the samurai armies. That same night, a typhoon dispersed part of the Mongol fleet, and the routed invaders had to return to the continent. In 1281, the Mongols landed a second time with tens of thousands of men. For two months, the proud samurai held their positions against the invader; then a second typhoon came to their aid. He too destroyed much of the Mongol fleet, and thousands of invaders fell to samurai sabers as they tried to retreat. The Mongols never attacked Japan again.
This second typhoon was called kamikaze - "the divine wind" - and became the symbol of victory in the minds of the Japanese. The word was taken up towards the end of the Second World War by Japanese pilots who deliberately aimed their planes at enemy ships, which they struck head-on.