This Word Means: Kamikaze

What does kamikaze mean?

Kamikaze combines two Japanese words: “kami” means “divine” and “kaze” means “wind.” The term originated as the name of a major typhoon that in 1281 drove away a Mongol invasion fleet headed for a poorly defended Japan, sparing the Japanese from likely devastating combat.

However, the word gained prominence during World War II (1939-1945) when Japan used pilots who would deliberately crash their planes into enemy naval vessels. These pilots were given the name kamikaze.

Today, kamikaze is used to describe not only suicide attacks by drones or terrorists but also someone who is willing to take risks and does not worry about their safety.

Why did Japan carry out kamikaze attacks?

These attacks came as a last-ditch effort by Japan to win the war. By 1944, the country had lost most of its skilled pilots, modern aircraft and fuel while United States’ forces continued to press westward across the islands of the Pacific Ocean.

To stop the American offensive, the Japanese military decided to turn their airmen into suicide bombers — the idea came from Vice Admiral Onishi Takejiro.

“The pilots needed little training — takeoffs, but no landings — and a sacrificial dive-bomber would be hard to shoot down,” according to a report by PBS.

The first major kamikaze attack took place during the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf — the largest naval battle of World War II. It involved 24 volunteer pilots from Japan’s 201st Navy Air Group who attacked American warships.

By the beginning of spring 1945, Japan had deployed specially designed planes, called Ohkas (meaning cherry blossom), to carry out kamikaze attacks. An Ohka was essentially a rocket-powered, piloted plane that was carried toward its target attached to the belly of a bomber, usually a Mitsubishi G4M. On release, the Ohka pilot would first glide towards the target, and once close enough, he would launch the aircraft’s rocket to guide it into a collision with the enemy warship.

The most effective kamikaze attack was during the Battle of Okinawa, which occurred between March 1945 and September 1945. Up to 300 aircraft at a time dove at the Allied fleet.

How effective were kamikaze pilots?

In total, some 350 Allied vessels were hit by kamikaze. Out of those, just 47 were sunk, and the rest were damaged. Ian Kikuchi, a senior curator at the Imperial War Museums, said in a documentary, “Of the ships sunk, none were strategically important, and all could be replaced.

Among the damaged ships were thirty-one aircraft carriers of different types.”

However, the human toll was quite high on both sides. While around 3,800 kamikaze pilots were believed to have died during World War II, some 7,000 Allied naval personnel were killed due to the attacks.

Experts believe that kamikaze attacks were largely unsuccessful. “The Japanese overestimated how many kamikaze would be able to evade Allied fighters and anti-aircraft guns. They overestimated the likelihood of direct hits against enemy ships, and overestimated how much damage a crashing aircraft could do to a large warship,” Kikuchi said.