Who became kamikaze pilots, and how did they feel towards their suicide mission?
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 tomorrow. I
am deeply emotional, and just hope to sink one
(American battleship).
Already, hundreds of visitors had visited us.
Cheerfully singing the last
season of farewell.[51]
and is cut off there. His handwriting however was very
stable, and was not as if he was
losing control. If for some reason he had to leave the
diary for a while, why did he not
go back to it? Was it that he had become extremely
emotional that he could no longer
write? In any case, he never returned to his diary.
Part Five
In reading the last letters of the Kamikaze pilots,
there are generally two types. One,
the "Typical" letters and the other, the
"Unique" letters. Most of the typical letters were
written by graduates of military schools such as the
Youth Pilot Training School. The
"Unique" ones were written by the Special
Flight Officer Probationary Cadets--the
graduates from college. The first two of the following
five pilots have written a typical
letter, and the other three have written unique
letters.
Corporal Masato Hisanaga of the 72nd Shinbu Squadron
was twenty years old. In his
letter, he thanked his parents for the years that he
was alive, and reported to them how
he had been doing, and informed them of the kindness of
the people where he had
been. After asking his parents to say "Hi" to
various people, he says that he will take
revenge for his older brother (who, as it appears, must
have been killed in the war) by
sinking the enemy's battleship and killing its
soldiers. He too asks that his younger
brothers follow their brother (himself). "All of
the (Japanese) population is the
tokkotai." He too mentioned, "I have no
nostalgic sentiments."[52]
Corporal Shinji Ozeki, 19 years old wrote a will to his
mother saying:[53]
As a man I will courageously go. Now, I have no
special nostalgic
sentiments. However, I will go regretting that
although being born a man, I
have not had filial piety.
To give this young self for the protection of the
imperial nation, I believe is
piety.
I hope that you will forgive my sin of being
undutiful and that you will live
in happiness.[54]
This is similar to what Corporal Araki and Hisanaga had
mentioned. All reveal their
thoughts towards their parents. They believed their
dying was piety, which shows that
they were doing it for their family. All had mentioned
having no nostalgic sentiments
possibly to make their parents feel easier. Because
these are "Typical" letters, many
others had written just as they had.
The unique ones written by the college graduates
included more personal feelings. For
example, Second Lieutenant Shigeyuki Suzuki wrote:[55]
People say that our feeling is of resignation, but
that does not know at all
how we feel, and think of us as a fish about to be
cooked.
Young blood does flow in us.
There are persons we love, we think of, and many
unforgettable
memories. However, with those, we cannot win the
war.
To let this beautiful Japan keep growing, to be
released from the wicked
hands of the Americans and British, and to build a
'freed Asia' was our
goal from the Gakuto Shutsujin year before last;
yet nothing has changed.
The great day that we can directly be in contact
with the battle is our day
of happiness and at the same time, the memorial of
our death...[56]
Second Lieutenant Ryoji Uehara, a graduate of Keio
University was 22 years old. His
ideas were "radical" for the time, and if
known by the Kenpeitai, he would not have
been left alone.[57] In a note, he wrote to a
journalist just before his mission that he
was greatly honored to be chosen as a Kamikaze
pilot.[58 ]Yet he also wrote, thinking
logically with the skills he had gained in college. He
believed in democracy. He believed
that the victory of democracy was obvious, and although
fascism would make the
country appear to be prosperous temporarily, only
decline would wait for it. He
mentioned the fact that Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany
had been defeated, and that the
power of "Freedom" will appear in history. He
says that if his ideas were correct, it
would be a tragedy for the nation but that he would be
happy. In the end of the note he
wrote:
Tomorrow, one believer in democracy will leave
this world. He may look
lonely, but his heart is filled with satisfaction.
Second Lieutenant Uehara believed that he would not go
to Yasukuni Shrine, but go to
heaven where he would be able to meet his brother and
the girl he loved, who died
earlier.[59]
Second Lieutenant Toshio Anazawa was engaged. Yet being
chosen for such a mission
that [engagement] was to be canceled. He wrote in his
last letter to her all the
thankfulness he felt for her and her family. He tells
her that he does not want her to
reflect on the time they had spent together.[60] He
wrote:
As an engaged man, as a man to go, I would like to
say a little to you, a
lady before I go.
I only wish your happiness.
Do not mind the past. You are not to live in the
past.
Have the courage and forget the past. You are to
create a new future.
You are to live from moment to moment in the
reality. Anazawa no longer
exists in the reality.[61]
Unlike the first two letters, which contained the
words, "I have no nostalgic emotions,"
he wrote: "It's too late now, but I would like to
say some of my wishes."
He then listed the books he wanted to read, what he
wanted to see, what he wanted to
listen to, and that he was eager to see her, and to
talk to her.[62]
The last three writings probably spoke for themselves
and require no further
explanation. They just made clearer the different ways
of thought the college students
had from the others who attended military school.
Not only in writing had the thoughts of the pilots appeared.
In actions, and in speeches
too were the emotions visible. Corporal Mineyoshi
Takahashi, according to Mr. Yasuo
Takahashi, his older brother, had changed since
entering military school, and his
attitude in talking with Mr. Takahashi was not as it
used to be.[63] (The way Mr. Y.
Takahashi explained the differences before and after
Mineyoshi joined the military was
similar to the way Mr. S. Araki had explained Yukio's
changes.) He remembers that
Suddenly, Corporal Takahashi had asked his brother:
"Which part of the ship is the
weakest?" Mr. Takahashi remembers that he was
extremely surprised, but pointed to
the place which he knew was the weakest.[64]
This reveals that Corporal Takahashi was thinking of
his mission rather calmly. He had
asked the question, probably thinking of which part of
the ship he should drive his plane
into.[65]
Corporal Takamasa Senda before his departure had been
singing many songs with
children, and at times, sat quietly alone, burning old
letters in an expression of deep
thought. The last night, he looked up at the stars and
said, "You are lucky, this will be
the last time I see the stars...I wonder how my mother
is doing...."[66] His singing with
the children was probably to forget the coming mission,
and his burning the letters was
to forget the past. Saying that he wanted to be able to
see the stars again is an
indication that he wanted to live.
Whether patriotism was the answer to the way they felt
can be doubted in the case of
Second Lieutenant Fumihiro Mitsuyama. His real name was
Tak Kyong-Hyong.[67]
He was Korean, but like other Japanese men, he too was
sent to war, and was chosen
as a Kamikaze pilot. The last evening before his
mission, he went to the cafeteria
appointed by the Army, which was run by a lady, Mrs.
Tome Torihama, who was
called "Okasan" (mother) by the young
Kamikaze pilots of Chiran Air Base. He went
up to her and said, "I will sing you a song of my
country," and sang Ariran. By the
second verse he was in tears.[68] Because he was a
graduate of college, he had not
volunteered willingly but was probably pressured to
circle "desire earnestly" in the
survey, especially being a Korean.
According to survivors, all say that they felt quite
calm, and normal. They were not
scared of death but were happy that the day had finally
come.[69] Mr. Itatsu was a
pilot who had departed for the mission but because his
engine had stopped on the way,
his plane fell into the sea, and he survived.[70] He
says that he remembers being happy
when he was chosen for the mission.[71] He said that
the young people then who had
gone into military schools did not have the ability to
think logically, and therefore sent
applications without much thought. He also says that
these pilots were really innocent,
and thought purely that they would be able to serve,
and protect the country.[72] An
author and a critic, Tadao Morimoto said in a T.V.
program that he believes that it was
not true that they were happy to die for the
country.[73] Mr. Itatsu says that he
disagrees with him because some young and innocent
pilots died believing they could
become happy dying that way.[74] Since Mr. Itatsu was
one of the Kamikaze pilots
himself, his comments should be given more credibility
than the comments made by
Tadao Morimoto who had been an officer in the Navy
during the war, but was not
involved with the Kamikaze attacks himself.
Kiichi Matsuura, the author of the book Showa wa Toku
(Showa Far Away) wrote
that he recalls the first planned date of the mission
was like every other day, and no
special conversation took place. When he found that his
aircraft would not function
properly, he suddenly felt the strong urge to live. His
aircraft not functioning implied that
he would not die. Realizing that, he could only think
of living. On his second "chance"
his plane was fine halfway. He was with two other
pilots, and seeing one of them sink
into the sea, realized a problem in all their engines.
The two returned. He recalls that
until the moment they decided to return, he was not at
all scared, because they were
flying toward death. However, returning was
frightening. He had to protect his life from
death.[75]
Finally, in an interview with a member of the Self
Defense Force, Mr. Matsunaga, a
word which held the key to a better understanding was
mentioned. The word was
"decision." To the question, "If something
happened, would you not be afraid?" he
answered that it was his decision to enter such a
world, and that he would not escape if
anything did occur.[76] Similarly, although it was with
far more psychological pressure,
all the Kamikaze pilots had made the decision.
Conclusion
The pilots were, as a matter of fact, not radical nor
extremely patriotic, but were the
average Japanese of the time. It was a dream for the
young boys of late Taisho period
and early Showa to serve in the military, especially in
the Air Force, as a career. Not all
pilots who wanted to become Kamikaze pilots could
become one. Although this may
sound strange, there were so many volunteers to make
the suicidal and fatal attacks,
that the military, to be fair, had to let the ones with
the better grades go earlier. Because
of the aura that had covered Japan, the young pilots of
18 and 19 were eager to go.
Those of the Special Flight Officer Probationary Cadets
who had their own thoughts
like Second lieutenants Suzuki, Uehara, and Anazawa
were able to separate their
personal life from what was required of them to do for
the war. They felt the
responsibility to go.
How exactly the pilots felt about the attacks could not
be known but it seems that they
were, in general, happy that they could serve the
country, but had other thoughts
towards death. Because the brainwashing done on the
pilots trained in military schools
was so effective, it changed the priority of 'life,
then country,' the other way around.
Life was made, by the atmosphere and education of the
time, to be not the first priority,
but something that must be given up for the first
priority, the Emperor and the country.
If they believed that ever-lasting happiness would
follow their mission, there was
nothing for them to fear. Those who were not
brainwashed (the college graduates) may
have felt fear. If they were able to detach themselves
totally from life, they might have
felt better. Yet is detaching oneself from life really
possible?
In any case, it seems that they were all optimistic.
They volunteered, believing their
death might save their family, the ones they loved, and
Japan. However, as a student
investigating fifty years after the events, it was not
possible for me to understand exactly
how the pilots had felt towards their mission.
Appendix One
The Different Pilots' Training Schools in The Imperial
Army Where the Kamikaze Pilots
Were Trained
The Youth Pilot Training School
The students who had graduated from the Youth
Pilot Training schools had the
best flying skills of the Imperial Army. This
schooling system had begun in 1933,
and lasted until the end of the Pacific War. The
age range that was accepted into
this school was between 14 and 17. Originally, the
time spent in the school was
three years. One year of general education in
Tokyo and two years of
specialized education in various parts of Japan.
However, by the end of the war,
the students of the 15th term were trained in only
a year and 8 months and were
made into soldiers just in time for the Okinawa
Tokko.
Candidates for Second Lieutenant
Non-commissioned officers whose excellence was
recognized were educated in
the Air Corps Academy. Because of their experience
and career, their skill was
of a high level.
Imperial Army Air Corps Academy
Students who had completed the four-year course of
Middle School or the
Higher Elementary School took an examination to
enter. They became civil
servants who had decided to work in the Army.
Graduates of the 56th and 57th
term were involved in the Okinawa Tokko.
Pilot Trainee
The pilot trainees had to have a pilot's license,
and had to be an Officer
Candidate. After one month in a squadron, they
received six months of flight
training in the Imperial Army Air Corps Academy of
Kumagaya, and after six
months as probationary Officer, became Second
Lieutenants. Among the
students of the Ninth term, there were graduates
of the Higher Pilot training
schools.
Flight Officer Candidates
Officer candidates consisted of drafted men with
at least Middle School
education. After four months of preliminary
education, a test was taken. If they
passed the test, they received the required
education for officers, and if found fit
for the position were ranked as Higher Officer
Candidates. After serving as
probationary officers, they were ranked as Second
Lieutenants. If they were not
found fit as an officer, they became the Lower
Officer Candidates and became
non-commissioned officers. Those who had the
interest in flying received training
with the Special Flight Officer Probationary Cadet
in the Imperial Air Corps
Academy. The students of the 7th, 8th, and 9th
term were involved in the
Okinawa Tokko.
Special Flight Officer Probationary Cadets
This was for the college students drafted into the
war by the Gakuto Shutsujin
who were interested in the Air Corps. The 1st term
entered in October 1943,
the 2nd in December 1943, and the 3rd in June
1944. They were made into
Second Lieutenants in one year, half a year
earlier than planned. One sixth of the
entire Okinawa Tokko of the Army was made up of
these 312 cadets.
Pilot Training Schools
This was not an institution belonging to the Army,
but belonged to the Ministry of
Communications. However, the content was almost
the same. There were
twelve of these schools and the students were
separated into the regular course
and flight training course. Students of fourteen
to fifteen years old entered the
regular course. After three years of regular
education, the students received one
year of flight training which the students of the
flight training course had
completed. To enter the flight training school
from the beginning, an educational
background of more than Middle School graduation
was required. 108 of the
graduates died in the Okinawa Tokko.
Appendix Two
The 72nd Shinbu Squadron
Many of the Kamikaze pilots mentioned in the Essay were
pilots of the 72nd Shinbu-tai
of the Imperial Army. The following are pilots of the
squadron:
Title Name Age
at Departure
Captain:
First Lieutenant Mutsuo Sato 24
Sergeant Nobuyoshi Nishikawa
Sergeant Kazuo Arai 21
Corporal Yukio Araki 17
Corporal Tsutomu Hayakawa 19
Corporal Kairyu Kanamoto
Corporal Atsunobu Sasaki
Corporal Kaname Takahashi 18
Corporal Mineyoshi Takahashi 17
Corporal Masato Hisanaga 20
Corporal Toshio Chizaki 19
Corporal Takamasa Senda 19
This squadron was formed on January 30, 1945 as the 113
Educational Flight Corps,
then was transformed to the 23rd Rensei Flight Corps.
On March 30, 1945, the same
unit was renamed the 72nd Shinbu Squadron. (Shinbu
refers to the squadrons of the
Imperial Army which made the suicide attacks by
aircraft.) They were stationed in
Heijo, what is now P'yongyan of North Korea. From March
25, 1944, they were in
Kagamihara, Gifu prefecture for about one month. Before
the mission in May, the unit
returned to Kyushu, and stayed in Metabaru, for a few
days, and flew over to Bansei
Air Base. Their attack was first planned to be made on
May 20, 1945, however it was
postponed to May 27, 1945 due to rainy weather.
Of the twelve pilots, three did not depart for the
suicide attack. Corporal Atsunobu
Sasaki was killed by an American P-51 on May 2, 1945 in
China. On the same day,
Sergeant Nobuyoshi Nishikawa was injured, and could not
take part in the mission.
The aircraft of Kairyu Kanamoto malfunctioned on the
day of their mission, and could
not take off. The remaining nine made their mission
from Bansei Air Base at 6:00 a.m.,
May 27, 1945.
Appendix Three
The Research Method
The first time I learned of this topic was in August,
1992. It was the time when I went
with my parents to Japan and visited manmuseums and
talked to many people whose
age varied from12 to 60 and they have told me many
stories about war.
There, a great number of primary sources and
photographs were displayed, which
made me even more interested in the topic.
Since the summer of 1992, the collection of information
started, with no academic
purpose. In 1993, the book Rikugun Saigo no Tokko Kichi
by Shichiro Naemura
was published. This book was about the Kamikaze pilots
who departed from Bansei
Air Base.
That summer of 1993 was crucial to my interest in the
Kamikaze pilots. First, I visited
Chiran Tokko Heiwa Kaikan again on August 21, and
looked in more detail at the
letters, diaries and photographs of the pilots. The
photographs were extremely inspiring
in a sense, since in none of them were the pilots
showing an expression of fatigue, or
regret. Most of them were smiling.
On the same night, I decided to spend the evening at
"Tomiya Ryokan" which is what
used to be the small restaurant Ms. Tome Torihama ran
during the war, and which the
Kamikaze pilots used frequently. There were several
photographs of the Kamikaze
pilots remaining there. Mr. Yoshikiyo Torihama, the
grandson of Ms. Tome Torihama,
talked to me about many episodes concerning the last
evening the pilots visited the
restaurant.
Since May 1993 I thought it would be a wonderful
opportunity to organize my thoughts
and information on this topic.
This essay was extremely interesting and, above all,
meaningful for me. The
members of the older generation who I interviewed
encouraged and supported me
tremendously.
Appendix Four
The following are those who have supported and
encouraged my research for the
Extended Essay: (in alphabetical order)
Mr. Seiichi Araki
Mr. Tadamasa Itatsu
Ms. Itsuko Kai
Mrs. Masako Kai
Mr. Kyoichi Kamei
Mrs. Fusako Manabe
Mr. Ryo Matsunaga
Mr. Shiniro Nagao
Mr. Tadashi Nakajima
Mr. Glenn Scoggins
Mr. Tohshio Senda
Mr. Yasuo Takahashi
Mr. Yoshikiyo Torihama
Mr. Akira Yamami