Heroes or fools? The Japanese are pilots kamikaze
During world war II, thousands of Japanese pilots volunteered to become pilots of the bombers, breaking in the fight against the enemy their planes to the glory of the Emperor.
70 years later, the correspondent Bi-bi-si Mariko OI asked the question: what heroes the kamikazes of yesteryear mean for today’s Japanese youth?
Irrational, heroic, and stupid — so three young people in Tokyo answered a question about his attitude to suicide bombers.
“Heroic? — said Sanpei, hearing the answer his younger brother Sho. — I didn’t know that you were so right-wing views”.
These numbers are difficult to confirm, but it is believed that three or four thousand Japanese pilots deliberately crashed their planes, attacking the enemy.
It was thought that only 10% of these attacks were unsuccessful, but the actions of the suicide bombers managed to sink about 50 ships of the enemy.
Today, decades after the end of the war, the consensus about kamikaze no, including the fact that the history of suicide pilots was repeatedly used for political purposes.
“Within seven years of the occupation of Japan by allied troops, the reputation of the kamikaze was one of the main things they fought,” explains Professor Mordecai Sheftall from the University of Shizuoka.
The tactics of the pilots of the bombers exposed the insane.
However, after the departure of the allies in 1952, the already right-wing nationalists made every effort to recover your own view of history, says the Professor.
“Even in the 1970-1980-ies a large part of the Japanese believed that the kamikaze is something to be ashamed of, it is a crime committed by a government against their families. However, in the 1990s, the nationalists began to launch trial balloons to see if they start calling suicide bombers “heroes”. They received no resistance, and became bolder and bolder,” explains Professor Sheftall.
Will you fight for your country?
A survey conducted in several countries in 2015 Win/Gallup, found that only 11% of Japanese are willing to fight for their country.
Pakistan: 89% India: 75% Turkey: 73% China: 71% Russia: 59% U.S.: 44% UK: 27% Japan: 11%
In 2000-ies was released such films as “For those we love” and “Eternal zero,” in which the kamikazes were represented by these characters.
But even a teenager Shaw, who called suicide bombers “heroic”, he admitted that his opinion was formed under the influence movie. If Japan tomorrow start to fight, he would not be willing to die for his country, he admits.