聞く：北条 時宗

 I watched a clip from the NHK drama "Hojo Tokimune" showcasing the Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 during the reign of the Kamakura shogunate. At the time of the first invasion, as the drama shows very clearly, Japan was not prepared to endure such an assault as the Mongols made. The invaders bring with them unfamiliar weapons such as trebuchets and exploding canister ammunition, and they also do not share the same concerns for honor in battle as the Japanese do and use poisonous arrows. However, when the second invasion comes, the samurai have become familiar with the Mongol way of war and construct a massive stone wall to keep the enemy at bay on the beach.

Unfortunately, since the characters speak an imitation of thirteenth century Japanese, I could scarcely begin to understand their speech. However, in battle single word commands are common, and I could identify the regular form of imperative verbs; in particular, the imperative of する is しろ.