Customer Reviews

I Was a Kamikaze

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This is a very rare book on the topic of kamikazes during WWII from a first person's perspective. The simple reason for its rareness being most kamikazes perished in their suicide missions.

Upon reading this book, I discovered a certain similarity with Saint-Exupery's Flight to Arras. The writer, being more interested in literature than his counterparts, spends a lot of time pondering about the ever deteriorating war situation and the impending likelihood of him being sent on one of those "last throw of the dice" missions.

He strongly holds the view that all participants of these missions participate on a purely voluntary basis. No strong arm tactics on the part of the Japanese Imperial Army. As such, he continually fights an inner battle on the decision to volunteer and meet a certain death, or to remain alive and pursue his dreams of further study.

He ultimately decides for the former out of love for his homeland and family. The book builds up to a climax as the reader begins wondering how he survived the suicide mission to write this moving book...

My first reaction to reading the title of this book was, "obviously not a very good one".

The book traces the life of the author during WWII as he goes through training and joins a combat squadron that is tasked with shooting down B29 Superfortress bombers. After a couple of such missions he is "volunteered" to join a kamikaze unit.

Unlike the other reviewer, I gained the impression from the book that volunteers had little choice in their decision, and that the author wanted to preserve his life just as much as a Westerner would in such a situation.

The value of the book lies in its descriptions of the everyday brutalities suffered by Japanese soldiers at the hands of their officers, and the portrayal of the mentality of a Japanese warrior. The inner debates and turmoils of the author are distinctly Japanese.