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Systematic and organized education made such efficient "brainwashing" possible. In public schools, students were taught to die for the emperor. By late
1944, a slogan of

Jusshi Reisho meaning "Sacrifice life," was taught.[3]

Most of the pilots who volunteered for the suicide attacks were those who were born late in the Taisho period (1912-1926) or in the first two or three years of Showa.

Therefore, they had gone through the brainwashing education, and were products of the militaristic Japan.

Censorship brought restrictions on the Japanese people. The letters, diaries, and photographs of individual soldiers were all censored. Nothing revealing where they were, or what they were doing concerning the military, could be communicated.[4]

Major restrictions were placed on the press, radio and other media.
The public was not to be informed of defeats or damage on the Japanese side. Only victories and damage imposed on the Allies were to be announced.[5]

Another factor that created the extreme atmosphere in Japan were the
"Kenpeitai," a part of the Imperial Army which checked on the civilians to see if they were saying or doing anything against the Emperor or the military.[6]

Since the time of feudalism, especially during the Tokugawa period, a warrior must follow the Bushido. This Code, and a culture which viewed suicide and the death of young people as beautiful were factors contributing to the mass suicides.[7]

Part Two

Although it was only from 1944 that the General Staff had considered mounting organized suicide attacks,[8] "suicide attacks" had been made since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.[9] Two types of suicide attacks had been made.
The first was an organized attack which would, in 90% of the cases, result in the death of the soldiers. However, if the plan had worked on the battlefield as it did in theory, there was some possibility that the soldiers would survive.[10] The other type of suicide attack that had been made was completely voluntary, and the result of a sudden decision. This was usually done by aircraft. The pilots, finding no efficient way to fight the American aircraft, deliberately crashed into them, and caused an explosion, destroying the American aircraft as well as killing themselves.[11]

Because these voluntary suicide attacks had shown that the young pilots had the spirit of dying rather than being defeated, by February, 1944, the staff officers had started to believe that although they were way below the Americans in the number of aircraft, battleships, skillful pilots and soldiers, and in the amount of natural resources (oil, for example), they were above the Americans in the number of young men who would fight to the death rather than be defeated. By organizing the "Tokkotai," they thought it would also attack the Americans psychologically, and make them lose their will to continue the war.[12] The person who suggested the Kamikaze attack at first is unknown, but it is often thought to be Admiral Takijiro Onishi.
However, Onishi was in the position to command the first Shinpu Tokubetsu Kogekitai rather than suggest it.[13]

In October, 1944, the plans for the organized suicide attacks became reality. Having received permission from the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Onishi entered Clark Air

Base prepared to command the first organized suicide attacks.[14]
Onishi had not thought the organized suicide attacks to be an efficient tactic, but that they would be a powerful battle tactic, and he believed that it would be the best and most beautiful place for the pilots to die. Onishi once said, "if they (the young pilots) are on land, they would be bombed down, and if they are in the air, they would be shot down. That's sad...Too sad...To let the young men die beautifully, that's what
Tokko is. To give beautiful death, that's called sympathy."[15]

This statement makes sense, considering the relative skills of the pilots of the time. By

1944, air raids were made all over Japan, especially in the cities.
Most of the best pilots of the Navy and the Army had been lost in previous battles.
Training time was greatly reduced to the minimum, or even less than was necessary in order to train a pilot. By the time the organized suicide attacks had started, the pilots only had the ability to fly, not to fight. Although what happens to the pilot himself in doing the suicide attack is by no means anywhere near beauty, to die in such a way, for the Emperor, and for the country, was (at the time), honorable.

One thing that was decided upon by the General Staff was that the
Kamikaze attacks were to be made only if it was in the will of the pilot himself. It was too much of a task to be "commanded."[16]

The first organized suicide attack was made on October 21, 1944 by a squadron called the Shinpu Tokubetsu Kogekitai.[17] Tokubetsu Kogekitai was the name generally used in the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army. The public had known them as the Tokkotai, the abbreviated form. Tokkotai referred to all the organized suicide attacks. Shinpu is what is better known as Kamikaze.[18] The captain of the first attack was to be Captain Yukio Seki.[19]

How was Captain Seki talked into such a task? According to the subcommander of the

First Air Fleet, Tamai, who brought the issue up to Captain Seki, the
Captain had in a short time replied "I understand. Please let me do it."[20] According to another source, the reply that Captain Seki gave was, "Please let me think about it one night. I will accept the offer tomorrow morning."[21]

The document which seems to have the most credibility is the book, The
Divine Wind by Captain Rikihei Inoguchi and Commander Tadashi Nakajima. According to this account a graduate of the Naval Academy, Naoshi Kanno, was originally nominated as the leader of this mission. However, he was away from Mabalacat on a mission to mainland Japan. Therefore, to take Kanno's place Captain Seki was chosen, and was called to Commander Tamai's room at midnight. After hearing of the mission, it appears, Seki remained silent for a while, then replied, "You must let me do it."[22]

The reason this is the most credible document is because it had been written by

Captain Rikihei Inoguchi, who was actually there with Tamai and Seki, and named the first unit, Shinpu. It is doubtful that there was a flaw in his memory since the book was published in 1959, only 14 years after the war.

In any case, Captain Seki agreed to lead the first Kamikaze attack, and, on October

25, 1944 during the battle off Samos, made one of the first attacks, on the American aircraft carrier Saint Lo.[23] Twenty-six fighter planes were prepared, of which half were to escort and the other half to make the suicide mission. That half was divided into the Shikishima, Yamato, Asahi and Yamazakura.[24]

Part Three

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