Background
After a series of Mongol invasions from 1231 to 1259, the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea signed a treaty in favor of the Mongols and became a Mongolian vassal. Kublai was declared Great Khan of the Mongol Empire in 1260 (though not widely recognized by the Mongols in the west) and established his capital at Dadu (Beijing) in 1264.
Japan at the time was ruled by the Shikken (Shogunate Regents) of the Hōjō clan, who had intermarried with and wrested control from the Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate after his death in 1203. The inner circle of the Hōjō had become so preeminent that they no longer consulted even the Hyōjō (評定) (the council of the shogunate of the Shogun), nor the Imperial Court of Kyoto, nor their vassals (gokenin), and made their decisions in their private meetings at their residences (寄合 yoriai).
The Mongols had also made attempts to subjugate the native peoples of Sakhalin since 1260, which only ended in 1308.
Read more about this topic: Mongol Invasions Of Japan
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