Kikuchi Takefusa

Kikuchi Takefusa (菊池 武房; 1245 – August 27, 1298) was the 10th head of the Kikuchi clan of Higo Province and gained fame for himself and his clan during the defense of Japan during both Mongol invasions of Japan.

Kikuchi Jirō Takefusa was son of the 9th head of the clan, Kikuchi Takayasu (菊池 隆泰); Jirō (次郎) means "second son". His mother whose name is unknown was from the equally famous Ōtomo clan and a great-granddaughter of Minamoto no Yoritomo through his illegitimate son. Takefusa became head of the clan after his father since his elder brother had died young. His younger brother Aritaka was adopted by their retainers, the Akahoshi clan.

During the first Mongol invasion at the Battle of Bun'ei he fought with his younger brother Aritaka and they were both awarded by the Emperor. Takefusa shot a Mongol general in the face with a signed arrow, precipitating the recall of the first Mongol invasion. Bun'ei is really the name of a campaign comprising many battles.

The Mongols had defeated or annihilated the defenders on the small islands of Tsushima, Iki, Hirato, Taka and Nokono during their island hopping towards the Japanese mainland. Akasaka was the first battle with a real army.

The yuan force had landed on Momochi field, Sawara District and divided into two groups one of which encamped at Akasaka. They were attacked by Kikuchi. j.Takefusa losing about 100 soldiers. The greater group retreated to the hill of Sōhara, and the smaller group to Tukahara field in Befu. The yuan force pitched a camp on Sōhara field which had a hill 30m in height and a great vantage point of the streets of Fukuoka city. The field is now Sōharakōen "Sōhara Park". The stone monument in the center of Sōharakōen marks the remains of yuan soldiers who were killed during the battle. During this battle, Kikuchi Takefusa gained fame for all the heads of the enemy that he collected.

From the diary of one of his commanders, Takezaki Suenaga:

"Thinking that I was the first to battle of all the warriors from Higo, I set off from the Hakata encampment. On my way to Akasaka, after passing the gate (torii) of the Sumiyoshi Shrine, I met a man on a dapple gray horse at Komatsubara. He wore purple armor with a reverse arrowhead design, and a crimson billowing cape (horo) and, having just defeated the invaders in their encampment, was returning with a hundred horsemen. The pirates had fled. Two had been taken. He looked most brave and had two retainers walking before him on his left and right carrying heads - one pierced on a sword, the other on a naginata. "Who passes here looking so brave?" I asked, and he replied, "I am Kikuchi Jirō Takefusa of Higo Province. Who are you?" I am Takezaki Gorō Hyōe Suenaga of the same province. Watch me attack! Saying so I charged."

This was the largest naval invasion in history until D-Day. In the spring of 1281, Kublai Khan sent two separate forces. An impressive force of 900 ships containing 40,000 Yuan troops set out from Masan, Korea, while an even larger force of 100,000 sailed from southern China in 3,500 ships. The Mongols' plan called for an overwhelming coordinated attack by the combined imperial Yuan fleets. The Chinese fleet of the Yuan was delayed by difficulties in provisioning and manning the large number of ships they had.