he says he took a whole semester on japanesse history and there were no kamakzi pilots. just people that got shot and flew into things.

Actually, that's what a Kamakazie pilot was *ordered* to do & it's what defined what a Kamakazie pilot *was*...If their plane was hit, they tried to make it crash in a place where it could do some good (at least, good for the Jap war effort).


[Edited on 20-3-2003 by MidnightDStroyer]

And your friend is on what cocktail of advanced medication?
Yes, there were kamikaze pilots: if you go to Japan you can even see a Museum of their activities in Kyushu.
As for your friend - as we say in China: "ta nao zi bu zheng chang": his head's not right.
There were also really, really, really: submarines, aeroplanes, bullets, a man called Hitler and a couple of very unpleasant bombs.
One should choose one's friends carefully.

My grandfather was there in the pacific he said they would dive into the cruisers...

I doubt he'd make that up.

i think they where more told to do it and had no choice.I watched a documentry on disc chan.I was all about them.It showed you them being put in to the planes no parachute with them and the canopy was locked down with bolts out side to stop them getting out.There was also a few whom returned which it showed them being beheaded.This footage was not to clear just really going on the narration as i was watching.


No expert on the subject just what i seen on the programme hope this might shed a bit more light on the topic for you.

Damn right they were real, and they were a big reason for the step up of the war to the nuclear stage. There was no defense against them and the planners were panicking. They were flying into ships all over the place. What can you do against that? Even if you shot them down they can still crash it into your ship. We've seen the resurgence of sucide bombers in the latest conflicts and there is still little you can do to stop someone who does not care wither they live or die...

Two of my uncles (Jack and Bill) served in the US Navy during WW 2. Jack served aboard destroyers, Bill served on aircraft carriers. Both were at the Battle for Okinawa. They can tell you. Those were real planes with real bombs with real japanese pilots attempting to sink ships by diving into them.

Yes, they were real. They were volunteers on top of that. No parachute was necessary as they were on a one way mission for their god. They were seen as heroes and martyrs willing to give all knowing their was no hope of survival.

of kamkaze pilots attacking ships... You should dig some up and show them to your friend...

Kamikaze pilots may not be real to your friend, but they were VERY real to the thousands of US and allied forces that they killed in WWII.

This topic is becoming very odd: there were kamikaze pilots; we all know.
Let us pray for the odd kamikaze poster.
What might be inetresting is the issue of whether anyone other than the Japanese of the Imperial period would have consented to this?
Or: are these pilots to be compared in any way with suicide bombers?

Yeah, good point, suicide bombers are kamakazis without the planes.

Originally posted by Netchicken
Yeah, good point, suicide bombers are kamakazis without the planes.

Yeah, Mohammed Atta

I do think there are aspects to be explored.
In the case of the kamikaze, there "was" a legal state of war; there was the Rising Sun on the Nakajimas and Mitsubishis; there was no possibility of mistaking their intent; there was absolutely no issue of non-combatant casualties.

I figure that they must be in the low thousands.

For kamikaze numbers, do you want just air crews, or do you want to include the numbers of all Japanese suicide missions.

I'm not quite sure how one would verify this but "above 5,000" is the figure I've always seen. (nothing more exact)

And -after the apparent imbecility of the foundation-posting here: this has become interesting.
Posters less familiar with the history of military aviation might find a search on the MXY-7 Ohka interesting in the kamikaze context.