13th Century – Wind of the Gods…..

As infighting increased through the following century, so did the need to defend Japan from foreign invaders. Among them were Genghis Khan's Mongol successors, who attacked Japan in 1274 and again in 1281. The Japanese were severely outnumbered each time, but a major storm during the first invasion destroyed, by some accounts, 200 Mongol ships, while a typhoon thwarted the second siege.

Together, these storms are known as kamikaze ("wind of the gods"), a term that would take on a more sinister definition during World War II when Japanese pilots carried out suicide attacks

The belief in a protective divine shield—as well as in Zen Buddhism, which allowed soldiers to overcome their fear of dying—became essential to the samurai way of life.

The warriors believed they were largely safeguarded from death but needed to prepare for the possibility in order to perform their best in battle.

14th Century – The Way of the Warrior……

Fighting continued within Japan, which soon had not one but two rival governments: Emperor Go-Daigo's court to the south versus a new northern court established by the ruling shogunate. From these so-called Nanbokucho Wars, or the "Wars Between the Courts," emerged Kusunoki Masashige, a samurai who would be venerated for centuries as an exemplar of warrior conduct through his unstinting loyalty to his lord, the Emperor Go-Daigo.

Masashige was a brilliant strategist, but in 1336, Go-Daigo refused to accept the warrior's counsel, and the samurai knowingly undertook what would become a suicide mission. When death at the hands of the opposition became imminent, Masashige and 600 of his troops committed seppuku (ritual suicide) on the battleground.

Being killed by the enemy was dishonorable, but seppuku, a key aspect of the samurai code of honor known as bushido, allowed warriors an honorable end.

15th Century – The Warring States……..

The Warring States period (c. 15th to early 17th centuries) was a time of widespread conflict, both physical and social, among the dominant clans of Japan.

Only the strong would survive, and strength lay in assembling large armies and the most advanced weapons. Foot soldiers learned to use traditional samurai weapons such as the bow, while the samurai became adept with the famed katana sword. Although crude Chinese handguns reached Japan by the early 16th century, the later introduction of the European arquebus and its armor-piercing bullets caused a revolution in warfare.

The Japanese soon began producing their own firearms.