Definition and origin Kamikaze was a reference to the two typhoons that sank or dispersed Kublai Khan 's invading Mongol fleets. The Japanese word kamikaze is usually translated as "divine wind" (kami is the word for "god", "spirit", or "divinity", and kaze for "wind").
kamikaze, any of the Japanese pilots who in World War II made deliberate suicidal crashes into enemy targets, usually ships. The term also denotes the aircraft used in such attacks.
When Mongol emperor Kublai Khan sent his naval fleets to attack Japan in the 13th century, fierce winds twice repelled the invasions. The Japanese considered these storms direct gifts from the gods and called them " kamikaze." The most common translation of the word is "divine wind."
As American ground forces fought for control of Okinawa in the spring of 1945, Japanese Kamikaze pilots wreaked a grim toll on American naval forces.
The Divine Wind: Japan's Kamikaze Pilots of World War II by Author Saul ...
In the final stages of the Second World War in the Pacific, Japan used extreme measures as Allied forces moved closer to the home islands. Among these measures was the creation of kamikaze units, whose pilots carried out suicide missions that involved crashing their planes into enemy ships.
Who were the fanatical kamikaze pilots of WWII and how deadly were they ...
The origins of Japan’s kamikaze tactics trace back to Rear Admiral Masafumi Arima’s fateful mission in October 1944. This essay explores how desperation and propaganda transformed suicidal airstrikes into a military doctrine, with Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi leading the charge.
The Rise of Kamikaze: Why Japan Turned to Suicide Attacks in WWII