The pilot takes a deep breath and prays. He sights his target and banks hard to the left.
The engine roars under the strain of gravity. The target is lined up,
the pilot pushes down on the flight stick, the plane dives towards the ocean below. Wedged in
between the metal ring of the tachometer is a picture of the emperor of Japan,
clutched tightly in the pilot’s hand is a piece of cloth with his family name embroidered on it.
A feeling of calm washes over him as the battleship gets closer, and closer, and closer.
Less than a year prior the Japanese soldier sits in a large barracks with a bunch of his comrades.
They are playing cards and smoking cigarettes. A veil of smoke fills
the air as the soldiers enjoy some downtime after a campaign on a small island in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean. The soldier has fought in several battles for the emperor,
his duty is to defend Japan against the Allied threat. He wears a freshly wrapped
bandage around his shoulder where an enemy bullet lodged itself in the last battle.
A high ranking officer enters the barracks. All of the men immediately stand at attention.
The commander walks up to the Japanese soldier and hands him a plain white envelope. In it is
a folded piece of paper. The soldier takes out the paper and reads it. It is a letter directly
from the emperor. The letter asks the question: “will you serve your country as a kamikaze pilot,
and bring glory to Japan?” Below these words are three options: volunteer willingy,
volunteer, or no. However, there is really only one option that any soldier can choose,
unless he wants to bring dishonor upon himself and his family.
The soldier checks the “volunteer willingly” box and hands the envelope back to the officer.
The other soldiers congratulate him as he is about to make a great sacrifice for his country.
He will be a hero. The soldier packs his possessions into his standard issue tan sack
and follows the officer out of the barracks. He is put on a transport to be taken to the closest air
base where he will be trained by the Japanese air force. The entire trip the soldier thinks about
what lies ahead. He thinks about the honor that being a kamikaze pilot will bring to his family,
the sadness of not seeing his mother again, the pain of being engulfed in a fiery explosion.
But to die for one’s emperor is a privilege.
The newly recruited kamikaze pilot reaches the air base where he will be trained. He stands in
a row of soldiers with the same determined look on their faces. He wonders if this is just a facade,
or does every one of the kamikaze pilots believe in doing the will of the emperor
for the glory of Japan, even if it costs them their lives? The soldiers stand at attention.
The commanding officer announces that they are about to be in the presence of greatness. It will
be a privilege that so many others in the country dream of. They are about to meet the emperor.
Emperor Hirohito rides down the dirt road on a white horse towards the newly recruited kamikaze
pilots. The sun reflects off of his medals and sword, the horse gallops in a steady cadence
reminiscent of the beats of a war drum. Hirohito stops just in front of the line of men. The
soldiers look upon the emperor, their eyes wide, trying to keep their resolve even though they are
filled with admiration and awe. Emperor Hirochito tells the kamikaze pilots that it is their duty
to bring honor to Japan. He is requesting their service personally. This is a special request,
because the emperor is the embodiment of the country. He is practically a deity.
Hirohito leaves and the soldiers are left with their thoughts. They are put through training
and tests to teach them the basics for flying a plane before the more technical training begins.
The soldier has learned from talking to the other kamikaze recruits that, like him, many of the
kamikaze pilots went to Japan’s best universities before the war. The emperor isn’t just sacrificing
the lower classes to the war machine, instead, some of the most intelligent people in the country
are being put into planes loaded with explosives and ordered to give their lives for Japan.
The soldier sits in a classroom with old wooden desks and chairs. The officer at the front of
the room teaches lessons around suppressing fear, and other troublesome emotions. The
soldier is to maintain a clear head and do his duty, that is it. There is no need to worry,
or be nervous, because this is the kamikaze pilot’s destiny. There is nothing more
important than serving the nation. The officer explains that even if the soldier were to die,
it is for a worthy cause, and will be the ultimate fulfillment of duty. The lesson ends with the
officer commanding the kamikaze pilots in the room to carry out their mission, or do not return. The
soldier wonders if by some miracle he were to survive his mission, what should he do next?
His commanding officer just gave him the order not to return, so if he survives can he go home?
Weeks of training go by and the soldier is no longer considered a recruit.
He is now a kamikaze pilot, and will be given his final mission soon. Before his final flight
across the Pacific Ocean the kamikaze pilot is asked to write a letter to his parents.
It will be delivered when his mission is completed. He sits silently looking down
at the blank piece of paper. He takes a deep breath and writes seven words that will be
delivered to his mother and father upon his death, “I have brought honor to our family.”
The kamikaze pilot folds the piece of paper and places it inside the envelope. On the way out of
the barracks he hands it to his commanding officer. He looks out across the airfield.
The tarmak radiates heat, the smell of gasoline fills the air.
Mechanics work on engines as soldiers help mount the explosives to the kamikaze planes.
The roar of engines is deafening. The airfield is a conglomerate of older plane models.
These previously retired planes are now used for one thing;
getting loaded with extra fuel and explosives, and flown into the side of Allied targets.
The kamikaze pilot walks towards his aircraft. It is an old fighter plane
with a rusty propellor and chipped paint across the fuselage. He runs his hand along the wing,
thinking about how this will be the last time he stands on the ground of his homeland.
Soon he will be in the air, and then sent to whatever comes after this life.
The pilot grabs onto the warm metal railing of the ladder leading to the cockpit. He climbs halfway
up and turns his head to watch his comrades running to their aircrafts and preparing to
take off for their final mission. He feels a sense of duty, but also a pain in his heart
that he will never be able to have a family of his own. He releases a sigh and continues to climb.
The kamikaze pilot swings his legs over the side of the cockpit and slides into his seat. The
flight stick is a little wobbly, and the glass on several of the dials is cracked. This plane must
have been retired years ago, maybe even before the war had started. He slides the canopy over his
head, enclosing himself in the cockpit. The canopy glass has become murky from oxidation and time.
The kamikaze pilot looks out at the airfield one last time. He pulls out the choke and signals to
the mechanics to start the engine. They pull down hard on the propeller, nothing happens.
The pilot cranes his neck to look at the mechanic. He reaches up, grabs the propeller, and pulls down
again with all his strength. The engine roars to life, the propeller turns for a few seconds
and then the engine dies. Could this be a sign? he thinks. He has heard stories of
kamikaze pilots being ready to carry out their missions, but their planes wouldn’t start.
The older modeled aircrafts were stripped to their bones so they could be loaded with more
explosives, but very little work was put into maintaining the plane’s engines or machinery.
The kamikaze pilot sits in the cockpit. He is filled with a mix of emotions.
On the one hand if the plane doesn’t start he will get to spend more time in the land that he loves.
On the other, he will not be doing his duty to that very country. It is an internal struggle that
many kamikaze pilots have to deal with. Another mechanic runs over to the plane with a wrench
in his hand. The two mechanics begin frantically working on the engine. The pilot watches as plane
after plane takes off from the runway and flies over the dark blue waters of the Pacific. Suddenly
there is a deafening BANG! Smoke bellows out of the engine, the propeller begins to turn. It turns
faster and faster, the engine hums to life and the pilot pulls back on the throttle. The engine
is making a gurgling sound, and every minute or so spews out black smoke, but the mechanics give
the pilot a thumbs up and remove the parking blocks from the tires. He is ready to go.
The plane moves towards the runway. He waits for the signal. When it is given
he pushes the throttle to full. The engine roars, smoke pours out of the exhaust pipes,
the plane lurches forward, pushing the pilot back against his seat.
He pulls back on the flight stick and the plane rises into the air. He moves towards
his squadron and glides into place. They are now airborne and flying towards their target.
The fleet of ships they are going to intercept is not too far off the coast of Japan. The time to
contact is only a couple of hours. About halfway into the flight the pilot watches as several of
the planes in the squadron run into mechanical problems and plummet into the depths of the ocean.
Eventually the fleet appears on the horizon. There are battleships,
destroyers, and an aircraft carrier. They look like little toys in an endless bathtub.
The pilot grips the flight stick tighter. This is it. This is what he has been trained for,
and this is what the emperor demands. He will finish his mission and bring honor to
his family and country. The squadron of planes begins to descend. There are bright flashes of
light coming from the fleet of ships. The sky is filled with explosions from anti-aircraft shells.
The planes dodge and weave around fiery shrapnel and clouds of smoke.
The kamikaze pilots are almost directly above their targets. Planes begin taking off from
the aircraft carrier to try and intercept as many of the kamikaze aircraft as possible.
The Allied forces are well aware of the kamikaze tactic by now, the more desperate Japan becomes,
the more dangerous the war gets. They have been planning and putting counter measures in place.
However, if a single kamikaze pilot makes it to his target, the damage can be immense.
The pilot pushes his flight stick forward. The plane goes into a nosedive. He looks
to his left and sees one of the other planes blown from the sky by an anti-aircraft shell.
He looks to the right and sees a missile that has been deployed from one of the larger aircrafts.
He knows that inside this missile is a man and tons of explosives. The pilot has been crammed
inside the missle with no means of getting out since the device was mounted to the plane back at
the airbase. The kamikaze missile will free fall for as long as possible, then, at the last moment,
the pilot will engage the thrusters of the missile and he will maneuver it into his
target. The missile is slender and smaller than an aircraft, therefore it is much harder to destroy.
The pilot turns his head to look straight through the cockpit windshield. He takes a deep breath and
closes his eyes. The battleship he is flying towards gets closer, and closer, and closer.
During World War II Japanese kamikaze pilots were revered as heroes by their country,
and deemed an enormous threat by the United States military. These pilots were willing to
give up their own lives to serve their country. The word kamikaze means “divine wind.” We know
about how kamikaze missions were used by the Japanese in battles like Pearl Harbor
or at naval installations in the Pacific from survivors of such attacks.
We also know about the kamikaze pilot experience from individuals who encountered
mechanical issues with their planes and were unable to complete their missions.
By the end of World War II almost 4,000 Japanese pilots died in kamikaze missions.
It is still disputed how effective these missions were in terms of damage to Allied ships and bases.
Kamikaze missions continued all the way up until the end of the war
when Emperor Hirohito announced Japan was surrendering on August 15, 1945.
Over the years the Japanese people have viewed the kamikaze pilots with mixed feelings.
Some saw them as heroes who were doing their duty during a time of war, others saw their acts
of suicide as shameful. Either way, the life of a kamikaze pilot must have been a difficult struggle
between giving up one’s life, and doing their duty for the glory of the country.
This was an internal battle waged within each kamikaze pilot during World War II.
Now check out “China vs Japan - Who Would Win - Army / Military Comparison.” Or watch
“The Attack on Pearl Harbor - Surprise Military Strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Service.”