Kamikaze

The suicide pilot Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew and impacted his plane against the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) on 11 May 1945.

The term kamikaze (神風, '&# 39;kamikaze''^? lit. 'divine wind') of Japanese origin was originally used by American translators to refer to suicide attacks, carried out by pilots of a special unit belonging to the Imperial Japanese Army against ships of the Allied fleet at the end of World War II. These attacks were intended to stop the advance of the Allies in the Pacific Ocean and prevent them from reaching the Japanese coasts. For this purpose, planes loaded with 250-kilogram bombs deliberately hit their targets with the aim of sinking them or damaging them so seriously that they could not return to battle.

In Japan, the word kamikaze is not used in this sense. The term Shinpū tokubetsu kōgeki tai is preferred (神風特別攻撃隊< span class="t_nihongo_comma" style="display:none">, «Shinpū Special Attack Unit»^?) or its abbreviation tokkōtai (特攻隊, 'tokkōtai'^?)< /span>. In the rest of the world the use of this word has spread and it is applied without much rigor to all types of suicide attacks, regardless of the method used (use of explosives, car bomb, vehicle-ram, etc.) or nationality. of the attacker (as in the case of the attacks of September 11, 2001), or some of the attacks of the Islamic State.

This special unit was dissolved when Japan submitted its unconditional surrender in World War II and currently there are numerous records and testimonies about the birth, development and decline of its operations.

Etymology and origin

Etymology

Kanjis forming the word Shinpū, misinterpreted by American translators as kamikaze.

The word kamikaze, although it has its origin in the Japanese language, arises from the wrong reading of the type kun'yomi by American translators during World War II of the kanji 神 (lit. 'god') and 風 (lit. 'wind'), when their correct pronunciation should be of the type on'yomi and pronounced as Shinpū (神風, ''Shinpū'' ^?). The use of the word kamikaze spread outside of Japan and was accepted worldwide as valid, although, within the same country, pilots who directed their planes to deliberately crash into enemy ships were known by the name name of Shinpū tokubetsu kōgeki tai (神風特別攻撃隊, «Shinpū Special Attack Unit»^?) or by its abbreviation tokkōtai (特攻隊, 'tokkōtai'^?).

Since the culmination of World War II, the term has continued to be applied to various types of attacks, where the protagonist deliberately sacrifices himself (as in the case of terrorist attacks), or as a metaphorical form where the individual has few or little chance of success with considerable risk.

Origin

The origin of the kamikaze myth dates back to the XIII century, when a fleet from from Mongolia, under the command of Kublai Khan, appeared twice (the first in 1274 and the second in 1281) on the Japanese coasts with the aim of invading the country. It is believed that the first was just a reconnaissance operation, as the Mongols withdrew even after proving their superiority, but the second attack was certainly not the caseː the Mongol Empire carried out a military maneuver on a gigantic scale by comparison. with the previous one. Fortunately for the inhabitants, who were not prepared to fight against a much better prepared army and face an invasion of great proportions, a typhoon devastated the invasion fleet during the attempted invasion of 1281. This typhoon was called Divine Wind (神風< span class="t_nihongo_comma" style="display:none">, 'Divine Wind'^?) and considered as a sign that Japan was chosen by the gods and, therefore, they would take care of their safety and survival.

Context

Historical context

Japanese advance in the Pacific between 1937-42.Allied countries.

Japan experienced rapid growth after the establishment of the Meiji government and went from being an agrarian country to a power in the Asian region. The reforms introduced by the new government changed the way the country was run and focused on the development of technology, while creating a strong and modern army, which led to a strong militarization of the country. An increasingly warlike government saw an opportunity to build on the model of European colonialism, leading to a large number of armed conflicts on the Asian continent such as the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1909 and the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937.

Several years ago, the Americans had pressured Japan with embargoes and provided support to its enemies, as the country was seen as a threat in the region. During the summer of 1941, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands exercised an oil embargo to protest the presence of Japanese troops occupying China. Japanese diplomats tried to convince the respective countries to lift the embargo, but due to the refusal, the Emperor gave the order to attack Pearl Harbor, an attack that was carried out on December 7 simultaneously with attacks on the Philippines and the British territories of Malaya and Hong Kong. The following day, December 8, the United States The United States declared war on Japan.

The Japanese army continued to advance into the Pacific. In the six months following the attack on Pearl Harbor they had achieved almost all of their naval objectives and their fleet remained relatively intact. They had sunk or significantly damaged every US battleship in the Pacific. The British and Dutch Far East fleets had been destroyed, and the Royal Australian Navy had been driven back to their home ports.

The only major strategic Allied force remaining in opposition to all of this was the Pearl Harbor naval base, including the three aircraft carriers of the United States Pacific Fleet. The Japanese sent a fleet to the Midway Islands, an outlying atoll in the Hawaiian archipelago, with the aim of drawing what was left of the US fleet into a decisive battle. On June 5, American bombers sighted the Japanese force and sank 4 of their best carriers, one battleship, and 275 aircraft during the Battle of Midway, at the cost of a single carrier, the Yorktown. It was a very important victory for the United States and marked the turning point in the Pacific War. American ship and aircraft building capabilities vastly surpassed the Japanese, which would never again enjoy such numerical superiority.

After the victory at the Battle of Midway, United States forces began a relentless advance along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Japanese fighter planes quickly found themselves outnumbered and technically outmatched by the newer American aircraft, especially with the entry of the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair. The Imperial Japanese Fleet Air Service was defeated during dogfights in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea campaigns. Finally, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Japanese lost over 400 aircraft and pilots. The most veteran and best-prepared pilots began to be scarce.

Before the official creation of a special body, there had been deliberate collisions by pilots whose plane had been severely damaged and did not want to be captured, a situation that occurred both on the Japanese side and on that of the allied forces. According to Axell & Kase, these suicides "were individual, decisions made at the moment by men who were mentally prepared to die". In most cases there is little evidence that they were anything more than accidental collisions, normal in intense land-based battles. sea.

Since 1942 different voices within the Japanese army rose up with the desire to resort to suicide tactics to use themselves in the war and try to reverse the roles again. In the midst of great controversies, one of the protagonists and main opponents was Vice Admiral Yokoi, who stated that the reasons for opposing, beyond the death of the pilots, were mainly three:

1. It was extremely costly to train a pilot so that he and his plane would only make one trip.
2. Airplanes alone would not have such an impact force to severely destroy or damage a aircraft carrier, unless it crashed into the landing track when it had many enemy planes.
3. It was extremely difficult to analyze the results, as the protagonist would be dead from the action.

Special suicide units were formed on land (as in the case of the "Banzai Cargo") and at sea (as in the Shin'yō boats). Finally, in mid-1944, Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō gave instructions for the Air Attack Corps to organize a special unit, which would give rise to what is commonly known as kamikazes.

The development of anti-aircraft protection on American ships had reached such a level that it was illusory to think that the Japanese aircraft could survive the attack even if that was their intention. At that point in the war, with all the accumulated experience in plane-on-ship attacks, the kamikaze tactic was a realistic and rational way to assume the limitation that the pilot would still end up dead. Thus, the kamikazes were the product of the intersection between a cultural tradition of suicide sacrifice with the evident tactical reality that planning withdrawal after the attack was idle.

Cultural Context

Main building of the Yasukuni shrine.

During the years 1944 and 1945, the Japanese were deeply influenced by State Shinto, which strongly emphasized reverence for the emperor since it was established as the official religion during the Meiji Restoration. As the years progressed, nationalist sentiments were strongly promoted. In 1890 the imperial restructuring of Education was approved, with which students had to take an oath to offer themselves "with courage" to the State, as well as to "protect the Imperial family". The last offering was to give one's life. Dying for the country or for the emperor was considered an honor. The authors Axel & Kase point:

The fact is that countless soldiers, sailors and pilots were determined to die, to become Eirei, which means Guardian Spirits of the country [...] Many Japanese felt that being consecrated to the Yasukuni shrine was a special honor, since the emperor visited him twice a year to pay tribute. The Yasukuni was the only temple that deified common men, which the emperor visited.

Young Japanese were indoctrinated from an early age with these ideals. In addition to the Yasukuni Shrine plot, a large number of war memorials began to be built from 1905 after the Russo-Japanese War. It is noteworthy that they were erected near schools and not near temples.

When the suicide tactics began, newspapers and books distributed ads, articles and stories about these pilots in an effort to aid recruitment. In October 1944, the Nippon Times quoted Major Sekio Nishina:

The spirit of the Special Attack Unit is the great spirit that runs through the blood of every Japanese [...] The action of crashing that simultaneously kills the enemy and the pilot himself without error is called Special Attack [...] Each Japanese is able to become a member of the Special Attack Unit.

The "Bridge of the Nascent Sun" was Japan's naval badge, which was carried by many pilots on their last journey.

Publicists also promoted the idea that suicide bombers were enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine and spread exaggerated stories of their bravery, even distributing children's stories with suicide bombers as their central theme.

Before the departure of each pilot on their final mission, ceremonies were held in which they were presented with the flag of Japan or the flag of the Rising Sun (insignia of the Japanese naval fleet) with inspirational or spiritual inscriptions, a pistol or a katana and were usually offered a glass of sake or tea before taking off. The pilots also wore a sash with the rising sun and a senninbari or "thousand-stitch ribbon" woven by a thousand women, who each made one stitch. The pilots used to compose and recite a jisei no ku (辞世の句, 'jisei no ku' ^? poem composed near death), a tradition that samurai performed before committing seppuku. The pilots carried prayers from their family and were awarded military decorations.

History

Birth of the Special Unit

Vice Admiral ⋅nishi, who instituted the Ad Hoc Attack Group tokkōtai.

On October 19, 1944, Vice Admiral Takijirō Ōnishi, who commanded the Imperial Japanese Navy's First Air Fleet, arrived at Mabalacat (on the Philippine island of Luzon), where he first encountered Commander Rikihei Inoguchi, staff officer of the First Air Flotilla (part of the Japanese First Air Naval Fleet), and Commander Asaiki Tamai, who was in command of Air Group 201, and requested an official meeting in which they also were present:

• Officer Chuichi Yoshioka
• Lieutenant Ibusuki
• Lieutenant Yokohama

At this meeting, Vice Admiral Ōnishi informed those present that Operation Sho had been activated a day ago, so it would be necessary to delay the US fleet for at least a week with the purpose of allowing the arrival of the Second Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Kurita (which included the battleships Musashi and Yamato) in order to deal with all the weapons potential of Japan.

Vice Admiral Ōnishi stressed that the only effective way to achieve this goal, in his view, was to organize a special suicide attack group consisting of Zero fighters loaded with 250-kilogram bombs. The meeting continued until the early morning of October 20, where the creation of the special group was formalized. Commander Inoguchi proposed naming the special unit Shinpū and Vice Admiral Ōnishi ordered that the new Shinpū Special Attack Group be divided into four groups:

• Shikishima (Japanese poetic name)
• Yamato. (old name of Japan)
• Asahi (morning sun)
• Yamazakura (mountain)

The provisional date for the first attack was set for October 25, with the participation of 26 fighter planes (13 tokkōtai and 13 escorts) commanded by Lieutenant Yukio Seki.

Special Unit Operations in the Philippines

Photograph of the first attack ceremony tokkōtaiwhere Yukio Seki appears receiving a cup of water and Vice Admiral Takijirō ⋅nishi (in the foreground, back).

Since the morning of October 20, reconnaissance rounds were carried out in order to begin the operation of the newly formed Shinpū Unit, but due to bad weather it was not possible to locate the location of the fleet American.

On the 23rd, United States submarines attacked the advance of Vice Admiral Kurita's fleet, sinking the flagships Atago and Maya, in addition to the heavy cruiser Takao was severely damaged and put out of action without being able to face them.

The next day the US fleet located and attacked Kurita's Second Fleet, sinking the battleship Musashi and knocking out the heavy cruiser Myoko. The Shinpū unit was unable to provide assistance due to intense anti-aircraft fire.

Admiral Shōji Nishimura's fleet was attacked at dawn on October 25 in the Surigao Strait, being wiped out within minutes. The battleships Yamashiro and Fuso were sunk along with three destroyers, and the cruiser Mogami was damaged and put out of action. Allied attack units later returned and sank the cruisers Mogami and Abukuma.

The first successful official mission of the Special Unit was finally carried out during the same day on the 25th, when the Shikishima unit located 50 kilometers to the northeast of the island of Suluan a contingent US. Five tokkōtai and four escorts arrived at the scene and the first plane hit an aircraft carrier, as did the second, causing the carrier to sink. The third pilot hit another carrier and set it on fire, the fourth pilot hit a light cruiser sinking it, while the fifth failed to make contact.

On October 26, the second attack was carried out, this time with the participation of the Yamato unit, which was made up of two groups: the first made up of two tokkōtai and an escort and the second by three tokkōtai and two escorts. The participation of the first group could not be confirmed because the person in charge of delivering the report did not return to the base, but it is known that the second group hit an allied aircraft carrier with two aviators and sank it, while the third hit another, damaging it..

After the tremendous blow received by the forces of Vice Admiral Kurita and Admiral Nishimura, it was clear that Operation Sho, which had served as a pretext to form the Shinpū tokubetsu kōgeki, had failed. tai (神風特別攻撃隊, «Shinpū Special Attack Unit»^?). However, operations of this type would continue from the Philippines until January 1945, when Allied troops landed in the Philippines and it was decided to form another base in Formosa.

From the start of operations on October 25, 1944, until its departure from the Philippines in January 1945, this is a summary of the attacks:

Special Unit Operations in Formosa

After leaving the Philippines because US troops had landed, another operations center was established on the island of Formosa, where a new group of suicide pilots was created on January 18, 1945 under the name Niitaka in honor of a local mountain. Three days later, on January 21, the first attack was planned, divided into three sections:

• Group 1.- Attackers: 2 Suisei (Code ally "Judy"), 2 zero; Escort: 2 zero
• Group 2.- Attackers: 2 Suisei2 zero; Escort: 3 zero
• Group 3.- Attackers: 2 Suisei; Escort: 2 zero

During this operation it was reported that few effective hits had been made, although one of the targets hit was the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga.

Special Unit Operations in Kantō

In an effort to delay the overwhelming enemy advance, and contemplating that surely Iwo Jima would be the next landing point, the 601st Air Group located in the Kantō region formed a new Special Attack Group on February 16 by order of the Vice Admiral Kimpei Teraoka. This unit was baptized on February 19 as Mitate and was organized into five groups with the following elements:

• No. 1.- 4 fighters, 4 bombers
• No. 2.- 4 fighters, 4 bombers
• No. 3.- 4 fighters, 4 bombers
• No. 4.- 4 torpedo bombers
• No. 5.- 4 torpedo bombers

This Task Force left its base on February 21 and, after refueling at Hachijōjima, headed toward enemy shipping in the Iwo Jima area and around Chichijima. Reports obtained that day stated that one aircraft carrier and four transports had been sunk, and that another aircraft carrier and four ships were damaged.

Special Unit Operations on Iwo Jima

In order to decimate the Allied attack, on March 10 a new Special Attack Group named Azusa was formed, which would try to destroy the enemy ships at their base. Such action was called "Operation Tan." 24 Ginga bombers loaded with 800-kilogram bombs guided by four seaplanes were available. The Azusa Unit went out at sunset on 11 March, but 13 bombers had engine trouble, so they had to return to base. This mission was also a failure, as only one enemy aircraft carrier was damaged.

Okinawa Special Unit Operations

Photograph taken from USS Washington at the time the USS Enterprise is hit by a suicide attack on May 14, 1945.

From the beginning of 1945, Japanese leaders discussed how to stop the relentless advance of the Allies. After the fall of Iwo Jima, the invasion and hostilities on Japanese lands was a matter of time. The Imperial General Headquarters had planned that the Allied forces would land on Okinawa, for which reason defensive preparations were made from January 1945. With the enemy already stepping on national territory, suicide operations not only increased, but joint attacks were coordinated. between the air fleet and the Navy for the first time in the entire war. These types of joint actions were known as Kikusui, of which ten were carried out between April 6 and June 22, 1945. It was in this series of attacks that the most Allied ships were damaged or damaged. sunk.

The most representative of these missions was the one carried out on April 6, when the remaining ships of the once glorious Imperial Fleet, en route in the so-called Operation Ten-Gō joined the Fifth Air Fleet to deliberately confront the enemy army already installed on Okinawa. Around noon the next day (April 7), 300 Allied aircraft attacked the remnant of the Japanese fleet. At 15:00, the battleship Yamato, the light cruiser Yahagi, and the destroyers Asashimo and Hamakaze were sunk due to intense attack. In addition, two other destroyers, the Isozake and the Kasumi, were put out of action and sunk by the Japanese themselves without being able to make any significant attack. During this battle, Japan lost six ships of the only ten it had for this one. Additionally, at least 2,500 men lost their lives.

Photograph by a Yokosuka MXY-7, another suicide device created by the Japanese in the Second World War, also known as "baka" by the Americans, reached an incredible speed.

In conjunction with the Kikusui operations, other types of suicide and explosive devices were used without much success, such as the Yokosuka MXY-7 rocket planes (called Ohka< by the Japanese /i> (桜花< span class="t_nihongo_comma" style="display:none">, 'Ohka' ^? cherry blossom), which the Allies contemptuously called "(dumb) bullet bombs"). These consisted of small single-seater wooden devices loaded with 1,800 kilograms of explosives and propelled by rockets. The failure of this model lay in the fact that they were transported by extremely slow bombers, which in their vast majority were shot down long before reaching their objective.

On April 12, operation Kikusui number 2 was launched, consisting of eight MXY-7, 80 tokkōtai aircraft and more of 100 escort fighters. The plan consisted of arriving at Okinawa by different routes to attack from various directions. Of the bombers loaded with MXY-7, 6 were shot down before even reaching the scene.

From March to August 1945, this is the summary of the attacks:

At least 1,450 suicide bombers flew out of Japanese bases, causing the casualty of at least 5,000 Allied troops, the largest casualties in any U.S. force in a single battle.

Last Attack

Damage to the cruise HMAS Australia by kamikaze attack.

After the deadly atomic bombings of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) and the entry of the Soviet Union into the war, some meetings were held in the high command to offer surrender Japan stalwart. Some suggested surrender from the same day 9, but others maintained that a last effort should be made to obtain more favorable conditions, so the declaration of surrender was not made public until August 15.

In the early morning of that day, the Japanese troops were aware that the Shōwa Emperor would give a public report and it was already anticipated that it was the official announcement of the country's surrender. However, Fifth Fleet Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki called out eleven bombers for the last suicide attack on the enemy fleet. Four of these planes failed to take off, while the other seven went on the attack. At 7:24 p.m. on August 15, 1945, the last of these rammings took place.

Consequences

Suicide of the creator of the Special Attack Unit

On August 15, the date the Emperor transmitted a message to make Japan's unconditional surrender official, Vice Admiral Ōnishi held some official meetings at his headquarters. Late at night he decided to commit the ritual suicide of seppuku (harakiri) and was found lying on the ground by base personnel at dawn. Although Ōnishi made a clean cut to the abdominal area, he failed to slit his throat and did not want medical help or the "coup de grace". After more than 16 hours of agony, he died at 6 p.m. on August 16, 1945. The final note he wrote read:

I wish to express my deep appreciation to the souls of the brave special attackers. They fought and died courageously, with faith in our final victory. In death, I want to purge the part that touches me in the failure to achieve that victory and I apologize to the souls of those dead airmen and their distressed families.
I want the young people of Japan to find a morale in my death. To be fearful will only favor the enemy. They must bow with the greatest perseverance in the spirit of the Emperor's decision [...] You are the treasure of the nation. With all the spirit fervor of the special attackers, fight for the well-being of Japan and for peace throughout the world.

He also wrote a haiku for his friend Rin Masutani:

Suga suga shi
Bofu doesn't love
Tsuki kiyo shi.

Renovator
After the violent storm
Up the radiant moon

Haiku de ⋅nishi for his friend Rin Masutani.

Attack figures

There is no consensus on the definitive figures for ships sunk during World War II due to the impact of tokkōtai pilots, even some writers and historians include ships sunk due to kaiten attacks (suicide torpedoes), so the figures range from 34 to 57 ships sunk. One of the most complete and documented lists is presented by the American historian Bill Gordon, who claims that the most accurate figure is 49 ships sunk in total. The list of sunk ships is listed as follows:

Training and Tactics

Training

The program that pilots based in Formosa had to follow is a good example of the training received by tokkōtai pilots, which was divided into several short phases. In the first place, the training of the new pilots lasted seven days, devoting the first two days solely to the takeoff exercise. This type of exercise covered the period from the moment the order for a mission was given to the moment the aircraft were placed in flight formation. The next two days were dedicated to formation flight, while simultaneously continuing takeoff practices. The last three days were dedicated, in a special way, to the theoretical study and to the practical exercises of approach to the objective and to the attack; meanwhile, take-off and formation flight exercises also continued. If there was still time, the process was repeated a second time.

Attack Tactics

For light and fast fighters, such as the Zero (codenamed allies Zeke), and Suisei-type carrier bombers (codenamed Judy) They adopted two methods of approach with a view to special attacks: at the maximum or minimum height possible. Although from the point of view of the accuracy of navigation and good visibility a medium height would have been preferable, it was preferred to give up these advantages in consideration of other factors. Indeed, the preferred height was between 5,500 and 6,500 meters high and this for several reasons:

• The higher the height, the more difficult the interception is made by the enemy.
• It was necessary to take into account the maneuverability of a plane loaded with a 250 kilogram bomb.
• The maximum speed was reached at the time of manoeuvring in sting towards the target
• He forced the gunners to shoot at the maximum elevation making it difficult to focus.
• Success was greater when there was a sky with a low cloud roof...

The Mitsubishi A6M, known as Zero, it was the most used plane for suicide attacks by young kamikazes.

Regarding the low-altitude approach of the Japanese aircraft, they flew as close as possible to the sea surface so as to delay their location by Allied radar as much as possible. In late 1944, American radar was considered to have an effective range of 100 miles at high altitude and 19 to 30 miles at low altitude. The latter was not very effective due to the anti-aircraft barrier that was established. In addition, many aircraft and pilots were shot down before reaching the target.

When many attack units were available, the low-altitude approach method and the high-altitude approach method were applied simultaneously, also from several routes.

For the final suicide attack, the pilots had an order of priority: On aircraft carriers, the best target was the main elevator; then followed, in order of preference, the stern or bow elevator. As for the other types of large war units, the best target was the command bridge base. On destroyers and other small warships and transports, a hit anywhere between the bridge and amidships was generally highly effective.

Rikihei Inoguchi explained that:

[...]if it had not been for the lack of the necessary number of apparatuses, the ideal would have been to send against each large aircraft carrier four planes kamikaze: two against the central elevator and the other two against the stern and bow, respectively. Thus, in theory, two or three attackers were considered the ideal number for an escort carrier.

[...]but the truth was that in practice American carriers were too many, and we had very few devices to carry out this task. Therefore, in order to obtain at least one "centered" and effective blow, each aircraft carrier was sent to a single apparatus: one plane per warship.

Allied Defensive Tactics

In early 1945 Major John Thach, already famous for developing tactics against attacks by Japanese aircraft, developed a strategy against suicide pilots called the "Great Blue Blanket". all the time possible air patrols around the allied fleet; however, because the training of new pilots was halted, there were insufficient items to keep the fleet safe and stop the Japanese threat.

Similarly, Thach recommended larger air combat patrols, intensive strikes against Japanese airbases, bombardment of airstrips with delayed-action bombs to make repairs more difficult, and an advance of destroyers and escort destroyers at least 80 kilometers from the main fleet in order to receive radar signals in advance. In addition, he improved coordination between the carrier air forces with the rest of the fleet.

At the end of 1944 the British Pacific Fleet used its Supermarine Seafires planes at high altitudes for patrol and air combat duties. These aircraft were frequently used to counter Japanese suicide attacks during and after the Battle of Iwo Jima.

As the war progressed, the allied troops began to get used to the methodology of suicide attacks, in addition to the fact that the pilots had little or no experience, which made defensive work easier since an experienced pilot had no problem chasing and shooting down to a newbie Other types of tactics were also developed, such as firing just in front of the low-level aircraft to create a water barrier that would shoot down the enemy aircraft.

Conception of current Japanese society

Relevance of a pilot tokkōtai exhibited at the Chiran Peace Museum, on the plane they only had a couple of photos and amulets.

The displays of affection and appreciation of society shown during World War II, where images of people saying goodbye with smiles and flowers were repeated, dissipated at the end of the war. The public image of tokkōtai pilots, as well as members of other suicide attack forces, changed radically. Derogatory terms such as "the degenerates of the Special Attack Unit" and "those fanatic ex-members of the Special Attack Unit" became recurring.

Since the end of the US occupation of Japan in 1952 to the present, these pilots have gradually regained their status as "historical heroes" that they enjoyed at the end of World War II.

Over the last few years, various museums have been erected exclusively dedicated to this topic, presenting photographs, testimonials, restored aircraft and other weapons used during the war. One of the main existing museums on this subject is the Chiran Peace Museum, which opened in 1975 in a former air base located in Kagoshima Prefecture. The museum receives more than 500,000 visits a year and is considered one of the factors that have changed the conception that Japanese society had of suicide attack units.

Along with museums, various monuments across the country have been erected in honor of the "fallen pilots", whether in the form of stone tombstones, towers, human figures, or in the form of Buddhist Kannon statues.

Gallery

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  Suicide attack on USS Langley on April 11, 1945.

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  The USS Columbia seconds before being hit by a plane on January 6, 1945.

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  The USS Columbia at the precise moment of impact.

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  USS Cover Saratoga after the impact of a plane on February 21, 1945.

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  Damage caused by a suicide attack on USS Lindsey on April 12, 1945.

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  Photograph taken before the last attack by Admiral Matome Ugaki on 15 August 1945.

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  Pilot tokkōtai carrying a hachimaki in the head to honor Japan.

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  Group of young pilots tokkōtai playing with a puppy.