1185-1333 CE
From 1185 to 1333 CE, the Japanese remade their world in the image of the warrior — the Gempei War's chaos giving way to Kamakura's austere discipline, samurai law replacing courtly precedent, Zen monks teaching that enlightenment could be found in the flash of a sword. Twice the Mongol fleets came, and twice typhoons scattered them — divine winds that convinced Japan of heaven's special favor.