Who became kamikazee

Who became kamikazee

By Kirill Bulatov

course: Cultural Diversit in the Modern World

instructor: Leigh Rich

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. This Code, and a culture which viewed suicide and

the death of

young people as beautiful were factors contributing to the mass

suicides.[7]

Part Two

Although it was only from 1944 that the General Staff had considered

mounting

organized suicide attacks,[8] "suicide attacks" had been made since

the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor.[9] Two types of suicide attacks had been made.

The first was

an organized attack which would, in 90% of the cases, result in the

death of the

soldiers. However, if the plan had worked on the battlefield as it did

in theory, there

was some possibility that the soldiers would survive.[10] The other

type of suicide

attack that had been made was completely voluntary, and the result of

a sudden

decision. This was usually done by aircraft. The pilots, finding no

efficient way to fight

the American aircraft, deliberately crashed into them, and caused an

explosion,

destroying the American aircraft as well as killing themselves.[11]

Because these voluntary suicide attacks had shown that the young

pilots had the spirit

of dying rather than being defeated, by February, 1944, the staff

officers had started to

believe that although they were way below the Americans in the number

of aircraft,

battleships, skillful pilots and soldiers, and in the amount of

natural resources (oil, for

example), they were above the Americans in the number of young men who

would fight

to the death rather than be defeated. By organizing the "Tokkotai,"

they thought it

would also attack the Americans psychologically, and make them lose

their will to

continue the war.[12] The person who suggested the Kamikaze attack at

first is

unknown, but it is often thought to be Admiral Takijiro Onishi.

However, Onishi was in

the position to command the first Shinpu Tokubetsu Kogekitai rather

than suggest

it.[13]

In October, 1944, the plans for the organized suicide attacks became

reality. Having

received permission from the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Onishi

entered Clark Air

Base prepared to command the first organized suicide attacks.[14]

Onishi had not

thought the organized suicide attacks to be an efficient tactic, but

that they would be a

powerful battle tactic, and he believed that it would be the best and

most beautiful

place for the pilots to die. Onishi once said, "if they (the young

pilots) are on land, they

would be bombed down, and if they are in the air, they would be shot

down. That's

sad...Too sad...To let the young men die beautifully, that's what

Tokko is. To give

beautiful death, that's called sympathy."[15]

This statement makes sense, considering the relative skills of the

pilots of the time. By

1944, air raids were made all over Japan, especially in the cities.

Most of the best

pilots of the Navy and the Army had been lost in previous battles.

Training time was

greatly reduced to the minimum, or even less than was necessary in

order to train a

pilot. By the time the organized suicide attacks had started, the

pilots only had the

ability to fly, not to fight. Although what happens to the pilot

himself in doing the suicide

attack is by no means anywhere near beauty, to die in such a way, for

the Emperor,

and for the country, was (at the time), honorable.

One thing that was decided upon by the General Staff was that the

Kamikaze attacks

were to be made only if it was in the will of the pilot himself. It

was too much of a task

to be "commanded."[16]

The first organized suicide attack was made on October 21, 1944 by a

squadron

called the Shinpu Tokubetsu Kogekitai.[17] Tokubetsu Kogekitai was the

name

generally used in the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army. The public had

known them

as the Tokkotai, the abbreviated form. Tokkotai referred to all the

organized suicide

attacks. Shinpu is what is better known as Kamikaze.[18] The captain

of the first

attack was to be Captain Yukio Seki.[19]

How was Captain Seki talked into such a task? According to the

subcommander of the

First Air Fleet, Tamai, who brought the issue up to Captain Seki, the

Captain had in a

short time replied "I understand. Please let me do it."[20] According

to another source,

the reply that Captain Seki gave was, "Please let me think about it

one night. I will

accept the offer tomorrow morning."[21]

The document which seems to have the most credibility is the book, The

Divine Wind

by Captain Rikihei Inoguchi and Commander Tadashi Nakajima. According

to this

account a graduate of the Naval Academy, Naoshi Kanno, was originally

nominated as

the leader of this mission. However, he was away from Mabalacat on a

mission to

mainland Japan. Therefore, to take Kanno's place Captain Seki was

chosen, and was

called to Commander Tamai's room at midnight. After hearing of the

mission, it

appears, Seki remained silent for a while, then replied, "You must let

me do it."[22]

The reason this is the most credible document is because it had been

written by

Captain Rikihei Inoguchi, who was actually there with Tamai and Seki,

and named the

first unit, Shinpu. It is doubtful that there was a flaw in his memory

since the book was

published in 1959, only 14 years after the war.

In any case, Captain Seki agreed to lead the first Kamikaze attack,

and, on October

25, 1944 during the battle off Samos, made one of the first attacks,

on the American

aircraft carrier Saint Lo.[23] Twenty-six fighter planes were

prepared, of which half

were to escort and the other half to make the suicide mission. That

half was divided

into the Shikishima, Yamato, Asahi and Yamazakura.[24]

Part Three

The youngest of the Kamikaze pilots of the Imperial Army was 17 years

old,[25] and

the oldest, 35.[26] Most of them were in their late teens, or early

twenties. As the

battle in Okinawa [April to June 1945] worsened, the average age of

the pilots got

younger. Some had only completed the equivalent of an elementary

school and middle

school combined. Some had been to college. There was a tendency for

them not to be

first sons. The eldest sons usually took over the family business.

Most were therefore

the younger sons who did not need to worry about the family business.

Most of those who had come from college came in what is called the

Gakuto

Shutsujin. This was when the college students' exemption from being

drafted into the

military was lifted, and the graduation of the seniors was shifted

from April 1944 to

September 1943.[27]

Many of these students were from prestigious colleges such as Tokyo,

Kyoto, Keio,

and Waseda Universities. These students from college tended to have

more liberal

ideas, not having been educated in military schools, and also were

more aware of the

world outside of Japan.

Where were the pilots trained? All the pilots involved in the "Okinawa

Tokko" had

been trained in/as one of the following: The Youth Pilot Training

School, Candidates for

Second Lieutenant, The Imperial Army Air Corps Academy, Pilot Trainee,

Flight

Officer Candidates, Special Flight Officer Probationary Cadet, Pilot

Training Schools,

or Special Flight Officer Candidate.[28]

Part Four

Since the Kamikaze attacks were to be made only if the pilots had

volunteered, and

could not be "commanded," there were two methods to collect

volunteers. One was for

all pilots in general, and another was for the Special Flight Officer

Probationary Cadet

(College graduates) only. The former was an application form, and the

latter was a

survey. The survey asked: "Do you desire earnestly/wish/do not wish/to

be involved in

the Kamikaze attacks?" They had to circle one of the three choices, or

leave the paper

blank. The important fact is that the pilots were required to sign

their names.[29] When

the military had the absolute power, and the whole atmosphere of Japan

expected men

to die for the country, there was great psychological pressure to

circle "earnestly

desire" or "wish." The Army selected those who had circled "earnestly

desire." The

reason that the Special Flight Officer Probationary Cadet had to

answer such a survey

rather than send the applications at their own will was probably

because the military

had known that the students who had come from college had a wider

vision, and would

not easily apply for such a mission. For the regular application, the

Army was confident

that there would be many young pilots who would apply. They were

correct. Every

student of the 15th term of the Youth Pilot Training School had

applied. Because there

were so many volunteers, the military had decided to let the ones with

better grades go

first.[30]

There are several factors which made so many young pilots volunteer

for such a

mission. Extreme patriotism must have been one factor for sure. Added

to that, there

was the reverence for the Emperor, a god. Some say that it was

generally believed that

if one died for the emperor, and was praised in Yasukuni Shrine, they

would become

happy forever.[31]

The effect of the brainwashing that the military had done to the

students is surprising.

The pilots felt it was "obvious" that they were to take part in the

Kamikaze attacks.

Most pilots mention in letters that they were happy, and proud of

being given such an

honorable mission. It is true also that they believed that if they

took part in the mission,

it might improve the war situation for Japan.[32]

What the military education was like was described in a diary kept by

Corporal Yukio

Araki, from the time he had entered the Youth Pilot Training School,

until the night

before his original date of departure for Okinawa.

Since anything written was checked by one of the military staff,

nothing that would

upset the military or contradict the ideas of the Japanese government

could be written.

However, more importantly, because of the lack of privacy, personal

emotions could

not be written. Therefore, in Corporal Araki's diary, very rarely can

anything "personal"

be found. The first several days in the Training school, he simply

lists the subjects that

were studied that day, and what was done for physical training. Later

on he mentions

what was done for training, the events that took place, and other

things he had done.

However, most of what he wrote was about the "warning" he

received.[33] The

following are some of the "warnings" he had received:

There is an attitude problem when listening to the officers.[34]

Some students seem to smile or laugh during training, and others

are being

lazy...In general there seems to be a lack of spirit.[35]

Straighten yourself. It reveals your spirit.[36]

The education emphasized the mind, spirit and attitude. Neatness and

cleanliness were

also frequently mentioned. Usually, a hard slap in the face

accompanied these warnings.

The way the 15-year- old boy responded to the warning was: "I must try

harder."[37]

One of the listed subjects in the diary was a course called "Spiritual

Moral Lecture,"

nearly every other day. What exactly was taught in the course is not

mentioned.

However it seemed that in some of these courses, great military

figures who died for

Japan were mentioned.[38] It is a certainty that this course was one

factor in making

the pilots feel "happy and proud" to be involved in the Kamikaze

attacks.

The military education was quickly absorbed by these young pilots-to-

be. It was in

October 1943 that the young boy had entered the Training School. By

the next

February, he had written a short poem saying that a Japanese man

should be praised

when he dies as he should for the Emperor.[39]

The amount of time students spent in the Youth Pilot Training School

was reduced from

three years to less than two years for the 15th term students.

Therefore, the schedule

was tight and tough.[40] There was almost no holiday at all, and many

of the planned

holidays were canceled.[41] What Corporal Araki called a "holiday" was

very much

different from what is normally considered a holiday. An example of

his holiday started

with some sort of ceremony, followed by listening and learning new

songs (probably of

war), and watching a movie. Something related to the military was

taught even on days

called "holidays."[42] Therefore, they were given no time to "think."

There was

something to do almost every minute that they were awake, and they

were taught what

the right spirit was. By not giving them time to think, they had no

time to evaluate what

they were being taught. They just absorbed it, and as a result, by the

time they

graduated, they were brainwashed.

Corporal Araki had an older brother and three younger brothers. In his

will to his

parents, he mentioned that he wished two of his younger brothers to

also enter the

military; one should enter the Navy and become an officer, the other

to enter the Army

and also become an officer. He also mentions that he wishes that his

brothers follow his

path (and be involved in the Kamikaze attacks).[43]

Mr. S. Araki, Corporal Araki's older brother, mentioned that his

brother had greatly

changed after entering the military school. He remembers that his

brother's attitude

towards him was not casual, and it was not like he was talking to a

brother. He felt that

he had really grown up since he had seen him last, both physically and

psychologically.[44]

There are three references in which Corporal Araki's thoughts towards

the mission may

be found: his will, last letters, and his diary. In his will to his

parents, and to his brother,

he mentions that he has no nostalgic sentiments. In his will addressed

to his brother, he

mentions that he would like him to consider the mission as piety. In a

postcard sent on

the day of his mission, he calls the mission, "an honorable mission,"

and that he is

looking forward to see them again at Yasukuni Shrine.[45] It was in

the end of March

1945, that Corporal Araki's unit's mission was ordered to take

place.[46] From just

before then, Corporal Araki had not written in his diary. After an

entry on March 16,

there were no entries for two months. He wrote, because he was busy,

there was no

time to write.[47] Could that be true? Indeed, his squadron was on a

tight schedule for

March. From the 25th, they returned from P'yongyang to Gifu

prefecture.[48]

However, Sergeant Kazuo Arai had been able to keep a diary at the

time.[49] It may

be because of strong personal emotions he just could not keep the

diary. Or, it may be

that he could care no longer about keeping a diary. In either case the

fact that he had

not written an entry on the day that the mission was officially

ordered, when he had

written every other special event down, reveals that he was no longer

in the state of

mind that he had been.

The planned date of the mission of the 72nd Shinbu squadron (which was

the squadron

to which Corporal Araki belonged) was initially, May 21, 1945.

However, because of

rainy weather, it was postponed to May 27, 1945. In his last diary

entry on May 20,

1945, he wrote:[50]

...at ** o'clock I received the thankful command to depart

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