It was written in Japanese Army regulations that a soldier must accept death before dishonor. Banzai "Banzai" charges were committed by Japanese soldiers in what amounted to be mass suicides against well-defended American positions. Kamikaze acts were never acts of desperation or defiance, the Kamikaze attack formations were assigned, calculated, and executed with specific objectives. Furthermore, in military terms, the word "special" typically infers organized death operations, but in the case of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps, the term "special" had a meaning of organized attack by suicide. Eventually Japan's suicide squadrons became universally known as the Kamikaze (Divine Wind). The first official suicide units of the Imperial Japanese Navy, known as Shimpu Tokubetsu Kogekitiai (Divine Wind Special Attack Force), was frequently abbreviated to Tokko-Tai (Special attack Force). The Kamikaze ideology was quite simply death before dishonor. But the Kamikaze attack could be carried out only by killing oneself….the attack and death were one and the same thing." (Inoguchi xv). In the case of a do or die action, however great the risk involved, there is always a chance of survival. History provides many cases of individual soldiers who fought under certain-death circumstances, but never before was such a program carried out so systematically and over such a long period of time. Japanese Fighting Styles KamiKaze "Kamikaze attacks shocked the world primarily because of their 'certain death' aspect. However, this massive assault seemingly worked against them as the Kamikaze ideal of death before dishonor was as an important factor in the decision by the U.S. The Japanese suicide forces used Okinawa as an opportunity to launch an all out assault in order to illustrate to the Americans how costly an attack upon the sacred ground of Japan is. This suicide propaganda was used in an attempt to prove to America that an attack on the Japanese homeland would undoubtedly be met by an entire nation of people ready to sacrifice themselves in battle rather than surrender. In fact, there were times later in the war, that Kamikaze pilots were encouraged, if not ordered, to crash-dive their airplanes and kill themselves for the propaganda value alone. Eventually the act of killing oneself for the nation became more important for morale purposes than actually achieving a military objective. There is some controversy over whether the suicide missions were seen as a revolutionary new military strategy from the beginning or as a last ditch measure for Japan to gain power at any cost. We want you to die admirably as a model for the special attack by the entire nation" (Warner 199). Sooner or later it will come to a special attack by the entire nation, the hundred million of them. Japanese high command appreciated the morale factor of the Kamikaze spirit. These men were told to understand that they would be revered as gods and that their crash-dives would not be in vain. It was communicated to the Japanese soldiers who were called on to serve as Kamikaze's that they were being honored by being asked to lend the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the hundred million countrymen. The Kamikaze concept soon became indispensable to the spirit and morale of the Japanese military. To them it wasn't suicide, it was sacrifice. In its rawest form Kamikaze was the ultimate service a pilot could offer to his family and nation. All of these techniques were implemented with one common goal to win the war through physical and spiritual sacrifice. What is not commonly understood is that there were many different and specific fighting formations and styles that were deeply rooted in Japanese culture as well as in national loyalty. The term Kamikaze's found its place in history following WWII through the repeated use of the term to describe the various suicide attack formations that the Japanese Army and Navy took on against the American soldiers. The word "Kamikaze" was never actually used by the Japanese military during WWII, this is most likely because the acts which they performed were not viewed as acts at all, but as the only option. Therefore, if our wish is for a peaceful world, it will be well to study the spirit of the Kamikaze pilots." - Captain Inoguchi KamiKaze Culture Japanese warrior culture is characterized foremost by the men who committed these conscious acts of self-sacrifice: the Kamikazes. Assuming that the strongest of these is man's desire to live, you may say that this desire cannot be governed. "A world without strife will come only when every man has learned to curb his desires.
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