Top 20 Battles in Japanese History

The final battle between the Western and Eastern armies in the Warring States Period, this battle determined the fate of Japan for over two hundred and fifty years. Tokugawa Ieyasu's forces, thanks to some well-timed defections, managed to overwhelm the Western Army under Ishida Mitsunari and Mori Terumoto, leading to the creation of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

The largest naval battle of World War II and possibly the largest naval battle of all time. This battle secured the United States' retaking of the Philippines in World War II, and it marked the first instance of the famous Japanese kamikaze attacks. Thus, it was a major loss for the Japanese, as future battles would take place on Japanese soil.

In this great naval battle at the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese fleet managed to defeat the Russians' Second Pacific Squadron, securing victory in the whole war. This battle also marked the first time in a war that a Western power was defeated by a non-Western power, and it led to Japan's rise as an international power.

In the final battle of the Japanese civil war of the 1180s, the Genpei War, the Minamoto fleet, led by the great commander Minamoto no Yoshitsune, defeated the Taira forces under Taira no Munemori in a large naval battle near the southern tip of Honshu. This victory secured the Minamoto's control over Japan and led to the founding of the first shogunate.

In the Mongolian Invasion of Japan, the Japanese were severely outmatched. All their generals had little combat experience, and there were far more troups than they were used to directing. However, a kamikaze, a divine wind, or a storm came through and destroyed many of the Mongolian ships. The Japanese defeated the rest of the ships and saved their country from the invaders.