Japan's Kamikaze Pilots and Comtemporary Suicide Bombers: War and Terror by Yuki Tanaka
In the essay “Japan’s Kamikaze Pilots and Contemporary Suicide Bombers: War and Terror” by Yuki Tanaka, he talks about kamikaze pilots. He explains why someone might be a kamikaze pilot, and the difference between suicide bombers and kamikaze pilots.
Tanaka’s tone is very neutral. There was no point I found him to be bias or even persuasive. He remained open minded and just explained the facts. I found this to be effective, because it wasn’t as if kamikaze beliefs were being pressured upon me.
Throughout this essay Tanaka uses quite a bit of military jargon. Even titles such as “chief” and “petty officer” would mean nothing to someone with no military knowledge. Originally I thought this piece was directed towards people who were uninformed about kamikaze pilots, but by the end of the essay I had changed my mind. I believe that this piece was written for people in the military. Probably military members that have an education and some power in the military. Tanaka wants the military to understand what went wrong in World War II so that they can learn from it.
Tanaka explains the different motives for kamikaze pilots and suicide bombers. Kamikaze pilots volunteer because they believe that they will solely protect their country and their mothers. Not to mention they’re hardly afraid to die, because they rationalize it. Suicide bombers on the other hand are completely different. Unlike Kamikaze pilots who fight to defend, suicide bombers kill as many civilians as possible. They kill to scare their enemies.
I think that Tanaka’s piece was effective because it showed both sides of these strategic attacks. Explaining what they think about when volunteering and even while completing the act. It definitely shed some light on a subject that I considered completely insane.
My question for the class: Do you think you could be a Kamikaze pilot?