Wider World · AD 1281 · Takashima, Matsuura, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Dice and gaming pieces found in 1281 Mongol invasion shipwreck off Japan
Excavators off Takashima in Nagasaki Prefecture have exposed a roughly 15-metre stern section of the fleet's third known wreck, which they estimate was about 30 metres long.
Takashima, Matsuura, Japan Archaeologists off Takashima island in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, have found 29 gaming pieces and five dice-like objects in a wreck from the Mongol invasion fleet of 1281. The same excavation exposed a section of the rear hull about 15 metres long, including the stern. It is the first time gaming objects have been found at the Takashima site.
The ship is the third wreck of the fleet found off Takashima. Archaeologists located it in 2023 in a layer of mud on the seabed, about 18 metres down. In October 2024 the city of Matsuura confirmed, after further study, that it belonged to the invasion fleet. It lies about 150 metres offshore and about 50 metres south of the second wreck.
The wreck probably dates from the second Mongol invasion of Japan in 1281, during the Kamakura period. The Mongol-led Yuan empire then tried to conquer Japan with a large fleet. Around 4,400 ships, some of them from southern China, are said to have been destroyed by heavy storms. Earlier work on this wreck had already produced Chinese porcelain plates, glazed ceramic vessels and objects of copper and iron.
A ship of about 30 metres
Excavations in September and October 2025 exposed more of the keel. This is the main timber that runs lengthwise along the bottom of a ship and carries its structure. The team found an unusual joint there: two longer beams connected by an extra piece of wood. It was apparently meant to make the ship more stable.
The ship's original size could not be worked out at that stage. In excavations in October 2026 the researchers exposed more of the hull, including outer planks and partition walls. These probably came from the area between the middle of the ship and the stern. The bow and the upper parts of the ship have not survived.
From these parts the archaeologists estimate the ship was about 30 metres long. Earlier calculations put the first Takashima wreck at about 27 metres and the second at about 20 metres. Yoshifumi Ikeda, a specially appointed professor at Kokugakuin University, is taking part in the excavations. He thinks the third ship may have been a larger mother ship that carried fighters of the invasion fleet.
Dice found near a possible kitchen
The gaming pieces are about 3 cm long, 1.5 cm wide and 4 to 5 mm thick. The dice each measure about 1 cm. Ikeda thinks the pieces may belong to an old Chinese game called tianjiu, which is seen as a possible forerunner of mahjong. A final identification is still pending.
Nearby the team found Chinese tableware, an iron object probably used as a knife and a grinding bowl. Ikeda therefore thinks the rear of the ship may have held a kitchen or a food store. The gaming pieces may have been used by people who worked there.
In April 2026 Matsuura presented another find from the same wreck. It is an inscribed wooden tablet, found in 2024 and conserved for more than a year. The tablet is 25.2 cm wide, 12 cm high and 9 mm thick. Infrared images let the researchers study some of the surviving characters.
These may include the date "Zhiyuan 12" or "Zhiyuan 13" from the Yuan empire's calendar. That would correspond to 1275 or 1276. Much of the writing is illegible, so the full text cannot be reconstructed. Two holes in the tablet may come from nails that fixed it inside the ship.
The researchers also think the ship may have been built in southern China and later taken over by the Yuan empire. There is no evidence for this origin so far.
Research off Takashima goes back to 1980. A University of the Ryukyus team led by Ikeda found the first wreck in 2011. It was a keel section about 12 metres long, 23 to 25 metres down. Chinese ceramics, bricks and parts of explosive devices lay nearby, probably from the Mongol forces' equipment.
A second wreck was found in October 2014 and confirmed as part of the fleet in 2015. Its wooden bottom timbers were especially well preserved, and Chinese ceramic vessels from the 12th and 13th centuries lay with it. After study it was covered again with sediment to protect the fragile wood. Regular checks are meant to catch any damage or decay.
On 27 March 2012 the Japanese government designated the Takashima Kozaki site a national historic site. It was the first underwater site in Japan to gain that status, and covers about 38.4 hectares. By then archaeologists had recovered about 4,000 objects, including Chinese ceramics, swords, spearheads, iron helmets, arrows, ship parts and remains of explosive devices.
Large wooden anchors are among the finds. In 1994 researchers found one 20 to 22 metres down, still in its original position in the seabed. The third wreck lies east of the protected area.
For future work, Matsuura plans to cooperate with research institutions in South Korea, China and Mongolia. Ikeda thinks comparisons with shipwrecks from China and South Korea could help establish where the ships came from and how the invasion fleet was made up.
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