Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Kamikaze |
KamikazeNoun1. A fighter plane used for suicide missions by Japanese pilots in World War II. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Kamikaze (神風 from Kami - "god" and kaze - "wind") means 'divine wind' in Japanese. It refers to the typhoon which saved Japan from a Mongol invasion fleet in 1281.Japanese Zero as it collides with
a US warshipBy extension, during World War II the word came to be used for desperate suicide attacks, particularly by aircraft assigned to destroy US and Allied ships by flying directly into them. Japan had lost any pretext of having competitive fighters by 1944, and were hardly able to service them, so expending them as bombs was suggested by Admiral Takijiro Onishi in October 1944. The official name of the mission was 神風 (shinpuu; (same characters but different pronunciation from kamikaze) 特別 (tokubetsu) 攻撃隊 (ko-geki tai) literally meaning kamikaze special force units. Due to that name, Japanese often know kamikaze as tokko or 特攻 (from tokubetsu kogeki).
On the Japanese side, the human loss from the navy air force was 2,525 and from the army air force was 1,387. According to a Japanese announcement, the missions sunk 81 ships, damaged 195, but actually 34 were sunk and 288 were damaged. According to a Japanese tally, suicide attacks accounted for up to 80 percent of American losses in the final phase of the war in the Pacific. The military effect of kamikaze tactics was significant but not overwhelming. Even so, the psychological effect on Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen was profound.
The idea of kamikaze has been applied later in other parts of the world when the situation is hopeless. Instances are Selbstopfer in Nazi Germany in late World War II and terrorism that employs suicidal attack such as the September 11 terrorist attack, and suicide bombing in Israel by Palestinians.
The First Kamikaze
Background
The first sortie by the Special Attack Force (Tokkotai, or Kamikaze Squadron) took place in Leyte Gulf of the Philippines. The Japanese forces had lost the power they had at the beginning of the Pacific War (known officially as the Great Eastern Asian War in Japan) after their defeat at the Battle of Midway, and the US forces, with their rich resources and strong industrial power, were cornering the Japanese with. On July 15 1944, Saipan, which was the important base for the defense of Japanese mainland, finally fell to the Americans. The capture of Saipan made it possible for the US forces to strike the Japanese mainland with B-29 Superfortress long-range bombers. After the capture of Saipan, the US captured the Philippines, the islands where General MacArthur promised to return, and tried to make these islands the base for the attack on Japanese mainland. The Philippines were strategically important since the islands were located between the oil fields of Southeast Asia and Japan. For that reason, the Imperial Headquarter was forecasting that the Americans would try to capture the Philippines.
Operation Syou No.1
On October 17, 1944, the US forces started to land on Suluan Island at the entrance of Leyte Gulf. On the next day, the Imperial Headquarter officially announced Shou ichi gou sakusen (捷１号作戦, The Operation Syou No.1) in order to defend the Philippines. In this operation, Kurita fleet (栗田), which was supplied in Burney, Borneo Island, was supposed to storm into Leyte Gulf and destroy the US forces. In addition, the Ozawa fleet (小沢) joined the operation as decoy, and the Nishimura fleet (西村) and Shima fleet (志摩) joined the operation as mobile forces. Also, the First Air Fleet joined the lines to support the operation.However, the First Air Fleet at that time only had 40 airplanes, which were 34 Zeros (零戦), 1 reconnaissance plane, 3 Nakajima B6N Tenzan (Jill, 天山), 1 Mitsubishi G4M1 (Betty, 一式陸攻), and 2 Yokosuka P1Y1 Ginga (Frances, 銀河). In order to make it possible for the mobile forces to destroy the US landing forces in Leyte Gulf, it was necessary to stop the movement of the US task forces. The goal of the First Air Fleet was to fight the US task forces, however it seemed totally impossible to carry out the mission with only 40 airplanes.
Given the impossibility of the mission, the First Air Fleet was therefore the first squadron ever to form a Kamikaze Special Attack Force and the commandant of the First Air Fleet, Vice Admiral Onishi Takijirou, was known as the father of kamikaze attack.
The Formation of Kamikaze Special Attack Force
Vice Admiral Onishi (大西) was assigned to Manila on October 17, 1944. Two days later, he went to Magracut Airport. At the 201st Navy Flying Corps headquarter in Magracut, a historical meeting was held. Finally, Vice Admiral Onishi suggested to his men. "I don't think there would be any other certain way to carry out the operation than to put a 250kg (app. 552lbs)-bomb on a zero and let it crash into a US carrier, in order to disable her for a week." The captain of the 201st Flying Corps, Commander Tamai (玉井), is said to have responded by telling Vice Admiral Onishi that he couldn't make any decision without a presence of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku (山本 五十六). Vice Admiral Onishi told Commander Tamai that he already had Admiral Yamamoto's approval, however, and so Commander Tamai asked for a time to consider the proposal. Discussing the suicide missions with Lieutenant Shijuku, Commander Tamai, known for his gentleness and modesty, finally decided that there was no choice but to carry out the suicide mission, and his agreement was conveyed to Vice Admiral Onishi.With the official formation of the special attack force, Commander Tamai asked twenty-three pilots from the Class-A Student Pilots of the 10th Session Training, who Commander Tamai had personally trained, to participate in the operation. All pilots agreed to join the operation, raising both their hands. Although it was already becoming obvious at this point that Japan was starting to lose the war, the morale of the soldiers was very high (details on their morale is described on another page).
For the commander of the special attack force, Lieutenant Seki Yukio, the 70th graduate of the Naval Academy, was named. When Lieutenant Seki was asked by Commander Tamai to be a commander of the special attack force, Lieutenant Seki closed his eyes and thought for ten seconds, hanging down his head. Then finally, he told Commander Tamai "please let me do that." Therefore the 24 fist kamikaze pilots were chosen. The name of the special attack force was officially decided to Kamikaze Special Attack Force. The names of each four units, which were Unit Shikishima, Unit Yamato, Unit Asahi, Unit Yamazakura, was taken from a patriotic poem (waka or tanka) by an old Japanese classical scholar, Motoori Norinaga, which reads;
The first kamikaze strike came on October 25, 1944, off the Philippine island of Leyte. Twenty-six Mitsubishi Zeros were split into four groups to attack shipping, and five of these were able to hit the US aircraft carrier St. Louis with their load of 250kg of explosives, and sink her. Others hit and damaged several other carriers, and a submarine attack added to the confusion.
- If someone asks about the Yamato (Japanese) spirit of Shikishima (Japan),
- It is the flowers of yamazakura (mountain cherry blossom) that is fragrant
- in the Asahi (rising sun).
Sequence
This success was followed by an immediate expansion of the program, and over the next few months over 2,000 planes made such attacks. This included new types of attacks, including purpose-built Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka rocket-bombs, small boats packed with explosives, and manned torpedoes.Their "high-point" came during the Battle of Okinawa, when waves of planes made hundreds of attacks. The effort included a one-way mission by the battleship Yamato, which failed to get anywhere near the fight after being set upon by US fighters several hundred miles away. Starting with destroyers on "picket duty" and then moving on to the carriers in the middle of the fleet, the kamikaze aircraft attacks created enough havoc to threaten the Allied mission. By the end of the battle just under 30 ships had been sunk, and over 160 more damaged, expending 1,465 planes in the process.
As stocks of older planes started to dry up, a new kamikaze-only plane, the Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi, was designed to provide a simple, easy-to-build plane that could use up existing stocks of engines in a wooden airframe. The undercarriage was non-retractable, to be jettisoned shortly after take-off for a suicide mission, to be reused. The Japanese were stockpiling hundreds of these planes, along with more Ohkas and boats, for the eventual invasion of Japan. They were never used.
Other missions
Young pilots of suicide missions departed from the airbase shown on the map above. They flew Southwest over Kaimon mountain. The Kaimon mountain is 922 meter (approximately 3000 feet) tall, and is also called Satsuma Fuji (geometrically symmetrical beautiful mountain like Mt. Fuji located in Satsuma region). Legend tells that pilots of suicide attack mission looked over their shoulders many times to see this most Southern mountain of Japanese mainland while in the air and said good-bye to the country they grew up in. Also some of the young pilots saluted the mountain.There is an island called Kikaijima. This island is located East of Amami Oshima islands. The hill on the Kikaijima airport has beds of cornflower that bloom in early May. The island residents say that the pilots of suicide mission units dropped flowers from air when they departed for their final mission, and these flower seeds created the flower beds. Passage quoted from "Kyou ware Ikiteari"
Related Topic
- Suicide bombing
- Selbstopfer - German Kamikaze
- September 11 terrorist attack
Credit
The article contains materials from Mr.Nobu's personal website http://www.geocities.co.jp/WallStreet-Stock/6210/index2.html with the permission of use
External Link
- Kamikaze
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Kamikaze."
Crosswords: Kamikaze |
| English words defined with "kamikaze": Leyte, Leyte invasion, Leyte Island. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "kamikaze": Christmas tree packet ♦ kamikaze packet ♦ network meltdown ♦ ogg. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Kamikaze" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. German (kamikaze), Hungarian (kamikaze), Italian (kamikaze), Spanish (kamikaze). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'm full of that good ole kamikaze spirit (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) | |
Clever | Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets? (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | No Epitaph to Us Kamikaze Cop (1971) Kamikaze (1960) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | The Coast and Geodetic Survey Ship PATHFINDER enroute to Okinawa where it sustained a kamikaze hit but survived to enter Tokyo Bay at the end of hostilities. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |  | Ships in Kerama Retto anchorage spread an anti-kamikaze smoke screen, 3 May 1945, seen from USS Sargent Bay (CVE-83). TBM and FM-2 aircraft are on her flight deck. Ship in left center is USS Pinkney (APH-2), which had been damaged by a Kamikaze on 28 April. Photographed by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Oliver E. Pfeiffer. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Is hit by a "Kamikaze" at dusk on 12 May 1945, while off Okinawa. Photographed from USS Wichita (CA-45). Credit: NAVY. |  | Under repair in the floating drydock ABSD-2, at Manus, Admiralty Islands, 4 December 1944. She had been hit by a Kamikaze off Leyte on 1 November 1944. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, in late June 1945, following repair of Kamikaze damage. Credit: NAVY. |  | View of extensive damage to the ship's forward hull and superstructure, received when she was struck by two Kamikaze planes off Okinawa on 12 April 1945. The photograph was taken at Kerama Retto anchorage on 14 April. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Crew of one of the ship's port forward 20mm guns pose by their weapon, at Guam, circa 16 June 1945. They had stuck to their post until knocked off their feet by the force of a second explosion, when Lindsey was struck by two Kamikaze planes off Okinawa on 12 April 1945. Note severely damaged plating in the vicinity. The men are (left to right): CM3c Edwin K. Kayden; GM3c Balanor Easebio; Y2c Chester F. Fluharty; S1c Fred M. Gorges; S1c Robert F. Zelenka. Credit: NAVY. |  | USS LST-738 burning after she was hit by a Kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches, 15 December 1944. USS Moale (DD-693) is nearby. Note hole in LST-738's starboard side, just forward of the large "738" painted there. Smoke in the left distance may be from LST-472, which was also hit by the Kamikaze attack. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Is highlined from a destroyer to USS Randolph (CV-15) via boatswain's chair, 15 May 1945. This was the third time he had transferred his flag in four days, as his two previous flagships, USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) and USS Enterprise (CV-6) had both been badly damaged by "Kamikaze" hits off Okinawa. Photographed by Ensign H.F. Barrett. Credit: NAVY. |  | Kamikaze. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Shot" by Christoph Burgdorfer Commentary: "A kamikaze shot in a bar in Bern. ultra violett light." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| "Kamikaze" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 90.32% of the time. "Kamikaze" is used about 31 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 90.32% | 28 | 65,706 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 6.45% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Noun (proper) | 3.23% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 31 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "kamikaze": kamikaze packet. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "kamikaze": kamikaze-style. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "kamikaze"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Danish | selvmordsgen (kamikaze gene, suicidal gene, suicide gene). (various references) | |
Dutch | zelfmoordgenen (kamikaze gene, suicidal gene, suicide gene), suicidegen (kamikaze gene, suicidal gene, suicide gene). (various references) | |
Finnish | itsemurhageeni (kamikaze gene, suicidal gene, suicide gene). (various references) | |
French | gène suicide (kamikaze gene), gène suicidaire (kamikaze gene), gène kamikaze (kamikaze gene). (various references) | |
German | kamikaze. (various references) | |
Greek | αυτοκτονικό γονίδιο (kamikaze gene, suicidal gene, suicide gene). (various references) | |
Hungarian | kamikaze. (various references) | |
Italian | kamikaze. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 神風 (divine wind), 神風 (divine wind). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | かみかぜ (divine wind). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | amikazekay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | ataque suicida. (various references) | |
Spanish | kamikaze. (various references) | |
Thai | เครื่องบินแบบกามิกาเซ, การโจมตีแบบพลีชีพ. (various references) | |
Turkish | intihar uçağı, intihar pilotu. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | камікадзе. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "kamikaze": kamikazes. (additional references) | |
| |
"Kamikaze" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Akikiwe, camikaze, Kadizade, kamakasi, kamakaze, kamakazee, kamekaze, kamik, kamikaje, kamikas, kamikaz, kamikazee, kamikazeed, kamikazi, kanikaze, Kemakeza, Kimika. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-e-i-k-k-m-z" | |
-3 letters: amaze, kaiak, kamik, maize, zamia. | |
-4 letters: amia, amie, kaka, kaki, kame, kami, kike, make, maze, mike. | |
-5 letters: aim, ama, ami, kae, kea, mae, zek. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-e-i-k-k-m-z" | |
+1 letter: kamikazes. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
