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Photograph of kamikaze pilot
The extraordinary story of the world’s first suicide bombers – the Japanese kamikazes.

From April 1945, as the Allies fought battle after bloody battle in the Pacific, an increasingly desperate Japanese High Command ordered thousands of pilots to dive and crash into enemy ships.

Using archive and interviews, 'The Day of the Kamikaze' explores how, during the battle for Okinawa, thousands of young Japanese men were persuaded to sacrifice their lives.

Surviving Kamikaze pilots describe how they were persuaded to sign up to almost certain death, and Allied sailors relive the horror of facing the daily suicide tactic for the first time.

Japan at War: A Beginner's Guide, and other websites on the history of Japan
The history and politics of terror attacks
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