Kōan (Kamakura period)

• 1278 {{nihongo|Kōan gannen|弘安元年}}: The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Kenji 4. The era name comes from the Veritable Records of the Emperor Taizong of Tang and combines the characters {{linktext|弘}} ("broad") and {{linktext|安}} ("peaceful"). It should not be confused with the later Kōan era of 1361–62, which used a different character for kō ({{linktext|康}}, "peace").

• August 15, 1281 (Kōan 4, 7th day of the intercalary 7th month): Battle of Kōan -- The second Mongol invasion of Japan is foiled, as a large typhoon – famously called a kamikaze, or divine wind – destroys much of the combined Chinese and Korean fleet and forces, numbering over 140,000 men and 4,000 ships.
• November 27, 1287 (Kōan 10, 21st day of the 10th month): In the 14th year of Go-Uda-tennō{{'}}s reign (後宇多天皇14年), the emperor abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by his cousin. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Fushimi is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).Titsingh, p. 269; Varley, p. 44; a distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami.

• Mongol invasions of Japan
• Battle of Bun'ei - the first invasion attempt by Kublai Khan, in 1274.

{{Reflist}}

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC Japan encyclopedia.] Cambridge: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58053128?referer=di&ht=edition OCLC 58053128]
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&q=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran Annales des empereurs du Japon.] Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5850691 OCLC 5850691]
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-231-04940-5}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6042764 OCLC 6042764]

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" [http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/ -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection]

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{{succession box

| before =Kenji

| title = Era or nengō
Kōan

| years = 1278–1288

| after =Shōō

}}

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{{Japanese era name}}

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Category:Japanese eras

Category:1270s in Japan

Category:1280s in Japan

Category:13th-century neologisms

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