Special Attack Corps

As a last resort, the idea of kamikaze fighting, or suicide missions carried out by the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps was introduced towards the end of the war. The phrase “kamikaze” meant divine wind, and Masafumi Arima, an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, was the first to propose this preplanned tactic for usage in WWII. During this time, the Okha, meaning cherry blossom and official suicide attack weapon was invented. It was a heavy glider with around 1,200 kilograms of explosives loaded to be released on a confirmed enemy target (Stewart 3-15). Cherry blossoms were significant to Japanese culture as they became a political and national symbol of death and departure in an army that was rapidly decreasing in power and size. Representing

a “life sustaining energy” (Ohnuki-Tierney, 27), it reminded the Japanese to not give up and continue glorifying Japan to their absolute limit (Ohnuki-Tierney, 35). During the Battle of Okinawa, soldiers carried cherry blossom branches in their missions, which reminded them of the Bushido Code and its significance to their duty when they would perish like a sakura falling at the full bloom of its beauty (Yukie O). Officially, the kamikaze force was first deployed on October 25th, 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Both sides sustained heavy losses, and the decision was approved by Hirohito and Capt. Motoharu Okamura: “I firmly believe that the only way to swing the war in our favor is to resort to crash-dive attacks with our planes…. There will be more than enough volunteers for this chance to save our country (Staff, "First Kamikaze Attack 1944"). This group consisted of 24 volunteer pilots from Japan’s 201st Navy Air Group, and killed approximately 3,000 Americans and Brits (Trueman).
Unfortunately, around 1,500 kamikaze servicemen died during WWII. Because of the liberal, cosmopolitan ideas of the 1930s, Japanese samurai military traditions were revived and led to the Japan’s imperial aggression in WWII. Furthermore, the costly loss of 500 pilots in the Battle for Saipan lead to Japan’s struggle to quickly train and dispatch new soldiers. Under a time limit, young and ill-trained pilots were sent out in outdated aircraft but quickly destroyed by the advanced Allied fleets. After Japan’s false hope from the beginning of the war wore away, a series of defeats occurred (Forquer). As a result, the idea of kamikaze fighting was acknowledged to not only buy time to save the Japanese Empire but more specifically, rebuild the military and war supplies. Additionally, since suicide missions meant having disposable machinery, designs of the military vehicles were simple and easy to mass-produce. Suicide missions seemed like a logical solution to the dire situation Japan had placed itself in (Takatsuka).
As combative forces, the Japanese men readily accepted the challenge of becoming kamikaze pilots. With almost a 100 percent chance of death already as a Japanese pilot in WWII, kamikaze pilots realized that they might as well make their deaths honorable and more effective for Japan. Although their story is commonly misunderstood because of their willingness for death, their cultural origins from past samurai examples and societal burdens motivated their duty. Since they loved their country and obeyed their commands, they were highly respected as heroes for their deeds (Sinclair). Kamikaze pilots were first selected by Takijiro Onishi when he called for 23 volunteer pilots. Methods of propoganda and encouragement for Japanese soldiers to advance in the war as suicide bombers included putting them in a room filled with their peers. After Onishi’s strongly worded speech on upholding values from the Bushido code and promoting nationalism, he would ask anyone that didn’t wish to be a kamikaze to step forward. In fear of appearing cowardly or bringing shame to their families, they all joined and went through brutal training to develop a “fighting spirit” (Smallwood), their only advantage against the powerful and technologically advanced Westerners. As some of Japan’s finest pilots, they fought until they were “victorious or dead” (Tanaka). After this supply of experienced pilots rapidly diminished, young, naïve Japanese teenagers replaced them.
Many aspiring soldiers wishing to truly save Japan and the emperor volunteered under the honor of the Bushido code. Because of their strong bonds of solidarity, they encouraged and motivated each other through their unusually strong friendships. Pledging to die together, they softened their fear of death through their understanding that they would all die together on the same mission (Tanaka). They also rationalized their deaths and convinced themselves that their sacrifice for Japan would ultimately save the race by forcing the Allied Forces to end the war quickly to decrease mortality rates (Thomas).
Letters from pilots displayed their true feelings about the war: “I surely will be protecting everybody from the immortal faraway skies in Nansei Shoto.

Even though my body dies, I will certainly defend you” (Tomisawa). Kenji Tomisawa, a highly educated man was a member of the 62 Shinbu Special Attack Squadron, and died at the age of 23. His last emotions in a letter to his family truly present his belief in fighting for a higher cause and achieving honor and respect from his family. When he says, “At last for me also the time of final service has arrived. I very deeply appreciate my special upbringing until now. I am one who lacked courage, but please do speak well of me” (Tomisawa), he displays obedience, a sense of responsibility, and bravery—all the strongest qualities of samurai warrior. His contempt for defeat was exhibited when he “summoned courage with all [his] might and went to go strike in order to destroy [his enemies]” (Tomisawa). Due to this bushido ideal, Japanese soldiers regarded defeat as the ultimate humiliation, and the best choice to either die in the hands of an enemy or commit suicide as samurai did with seppuku and junshi. The fact that belligerent military commanders believed that the greatest honor was to have to opportunity to give their lives to the emperor also drove young men to their deaths. (Yukie O) Finally, Tomisawa’s emotional attachment to his family when he asks them to “congratulate [him]” (Tomisawa) in his final farewell shows his

filial piety and desire to not only be loyal to the emperor but to his hometown and his loved ones. To defend one’s mother was one of the most basic principles suicide pilots held, which explains why so many intellectual and distinguished youths accepted their call to fight in kamikaze units.
Although Tomisawa demonstrated determination as many kamikaze fighters did or convinced themselves to do before their imminent deaths, Yuji Naito, a kamikaze pilot survivor, felt resignation and regret at the age of 24 in the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Showa Unit.

He wished that his days would have been “busier and more difficult” and laments upon his “short life” (Naito 257). Like Tomisawa, he felt impatience and anxiety waiting for his call to action, missing whom he loved and yearning for his home and parents. Surprisingly, he claimed that “among this group of persons who all would die, they could not feel the slightest bit of heroism or sentiment” (Naito 257). “Such matters as death were of little significance” (Naito 257) to him and his fellow comrades, and he was even hopeless when he said “salvation and Buddha were useless” to him (Naito 257). Still, he miraculously survived after Emperor Hirohito ordered Japan’s surrender after the atomic bombs were dropped. Overall, kamikaze pilots were unfortunately subject to these desperate acts and had to cope with their fate in different ways in order to maintain sanity and

faith.
Using the unconventional military method of kamikaze fighting, 3,000 attacks that were launched killed 4,900 American navy soldiers and wounded another 4,800 from 1944-1945 (Sinclair). Alas, since the Japanese forces were not originally able to keep up with the industrial war demands and military expertise of the Allied Powers, commanding officers decided to ruthlessly impose the idea of self sacrifice as recognized earlier in the bushido code as a last resort, creating “glorious deaths.” Unfortunately, while tragically heroic and successful in the eyes of the Japanese, hundreds of willing and unwilling young men and boys perished in flames. These great warriors, many of Japan’s most intelligent and aspiring pilots lives were cut too short.