WHO BECAME KAMIKAZE PILOTS,
AND HOW DID THEY FEEL TOWARDS THEIR
SUICIDE MISSION?
Abstract
This extended essay is about the Kamikaze pilots who made suicide attacks from the
air during the Pacific War. This paper aims to find who the pilots really were and how
they felt about their suicide mission. The hypothesis for the research was that any pilot
could become a Kamikaze pilot, and that the pilots probably felt scared, yet took the
responsibility to carry out their mission.
Most of the investigations were made through primary sources. Since the Kamikaze
attacks were made from bases in Kyushu, there are several museums there where
information may be found. There, the actual letters and diaries that the pilots had left
behind are displayed. Also, fifteen interviews with survivors of the attacks, relatives and
other people related to the attacks were made. Since the Kamikaze attacks were made
only fifty years ago, a great quantity of documents was available.
The time period in concern is from early 1944 to 1945, and the topic being the
Kamikaze pilots, and the region of research was within Japan, mainly Kyushu.
The conclusion of this extended essay was that the pilots were ordinary, average young
men of the time who volunteered, and that most felt that their dying in such a mission
would improve the war situation for the Japanese. However, exactly how the pilots felt
could not be fully understood by a student researching the topic fifty years after the
actual attack.
In blossom today, then scattered:
Life is so like a delicate flower.
How can one expect the fragrance
To last for ever?
--Admiral Onishi Takijiro
Introduction
During World War II in the Pacific, there were pilots of the Japanese Imperial Army
and Navy who made suicide attacks, driving their planes to deliberately crash into
carriers and battle- ships of the Allied forces. These were the pilots known as the
Kamikaze pilots. This essay focuses on how they felt about their suicide mission.
Because right-wing organizations have used the Kamikaze pilots as a symbol of a
militaristic and extremely nationalistic Japan, the current Japanese respond to the issue
with ignorance and false stereotypes and with generally negative and unsympathetic
remarks. The aim of this essay is to reveal the often unknown truth concerning the
pilots, and above all to give a clearer image as to who the pilots really were.
The hypothesis behind the question, "Who were the Kamikaze pilots and how did they
feel towards their suicide mission?" is that any pilot devoted to the country, who
volunteered and was chosen felt scared, yet took the responsibility to carry out his
mission.
Part One
The death of Emperor Taisho may be the point when Japan had started to become the
fascist state that it was during the Pacific War. Although the military had been active
ever since the Jiji period (1867-1912) in wars such as the Sino-Japanese War
(1894-1895), and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), it became extremely active
when Crown Prince Hirohito became Emperor Showa. Coup d'etats became frequent,
and several political figures were assassinated. By Emperor Showa's reign, the military
had the real authority.[1]
According to those who have lived through the early Showa period (1926-1945), the
presence of Emperor Showa was like that of a god and he was more of a religious
figure than a political one.[2] In many of the haiku that the Kamikaze pilots wrote, the
Emperor is mentioned in the first line.
Systematic and organized education made such efficient "brainwashing" possible. In
public schools, students were taught to die for the emperor. By late 1944, a slogan of
Jusshi Reisho meaning "Sacrifice life," was taught.[3]
Most of the pilots who volunteered for the suicide attacks were those who were born
late in the Taisho period (1912-1926) or in the first two or three years of Showa.
Therefore, they had gone through the brainwashing education, and were products of
the militaristic Japan.
Censorship brought restrictions on the Japanese people. The letters, diaries, and
photographs of individual soldiers were all censored. Nothing revealing where they
were, or what they were doing concerning the military, could be communicated.[4]
Major restrictions were placed on the press, radio and other media. The public was not
to be informed of defeats or damage on the Japanese side. Only victories and damage
imposed on the Allies were to be announced.[5]
Another factor that created the extreme atmosphere in Japan were the "Kenpeitai," a
part of the Imperial Army which checked on the civilians to see if they were saying or
doing anything against the Emperor or the military.[6]
Since the time of feudalism, especially during the Tokugawa period, a warrior must
follow the Bushido. ............
