The word kamikaze is a term of Japanese origin that means " divine wind." This word originated from the arrival of a typhoon to Japan in the thirteenth century, it is said that this tornado saved the nation from being invaded by a Mongolian fleet. This typhoon was given the name of "divine wind", and it was seen as a divine sign that Japan had been chosen by the gods, and that they were in charge of its protection and conservation. On the other hand, this term was assigned to the suicide attack force of the Japanese military airmen.
The kamikazes were young Japanese pilots trained to give their lives if necessary in the fighting during the Second World War. They used their aircraft as projectiles, in order to cause as much damage as possible. The plan to use the pilots as human bullets came from Admiral Takijiro Onishi in 1944, given the lack of effectiveness of the Japanese navy to defeat the American troops, it can be said that this idea paid off since in total they were 34 ships sunk and 288 damaged by kamikaze pilots.
The results of these confrontations left a very deep psychological imprint on each Japanese soldier, which is why the number of volunteers to carry out these missions was increasing, since it was an honorable way to die. This way of thinking was strongly rooted in Japanese thought, since the sense of honor and obedience were part of the conception of duty or " Giri ". Duty is a fundamental principle of the Japanese mentality, ideas inherited from the ancient moral concepts that were present in Japan during the Middle Ages and which were adopted in the rules of conduct for samurai warriors.
Before leaving for his last fight, the kamikaze aviator was entertained by his superiors with a pot with a rice ball and a glass of sake. It was a very symbolic and emotional act. The pilot wore a white headband, and the plane was already ready with high-impact explosives.
In the rest of the world, this word has been used to refer to all kinds of suicide or terrorist attacks, whatever the nationality of the attacker and the methodology used (car bombs, explosives, etc.).
