Kamikaze

:For other uses of the word Kamikaze, see Kamikaze (disambiguation).

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Kamikaze (??) is a Japanese word, usually translated as divine wind — which came into being as the name of a legendary typhoon said to have saved Japan from a Mongol invasion fleet in 1281. In Japanese, the word "kamikaze" is used only for this typhoon. In the English language, however, the word "kamikaze" usually refers to suicide attacks carried out by Japanese aircrews against Allied shipping, towards the end of the Pacific campaign of World War II.

Related Topics:
Japanese - Legendary typhoon said to have saved Japan - Mongol invasion - 1281 - English language - Suicide attacks - Japanese - Allied - Ship - Pacific campaign - World War II

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Air attacks were the predominant and best-known aspect of a wider use of — or plans for — suicide attacks by Japanese personnel, including soldiers carrying explosives, and boat crews. In Japanese, the term used for units carrying out these attacks is tokubetsu k?geki tai (?????), which literally means "special attack unit." This is usually abbreviated to tokk?tai (???). In World War II, suicide squads that came from the Imperial Japanese Navy were called shinp? tokubetsu k?geki tai (???????), where shinp? is the on-reading of the same characters that form the word kamikaze.

Related Topics:
Imperial Japanese Navy - On-reading - Characters

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Since the end of World War II, the word kamikaze has been applied to a wider variety of suicide attacks because of misunderstanding its real value. Examples of these include Selbstopfer in Nazi Germany in World War II. Terrorist attacks that employ suicide attacks, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks, and suicide bombing in Israel by Palestinians are sometimes likened to kamikazes. However, acts of terrorism are completely different from the actual kamikaze, as the purpose of terrorist acts is to make a statement by killing civilians, whereas kamikaze pilots' targets were military forces.

Related Topics:
Selbstopfer - Nazi - World War II - Terrorist attacks - September 11, 2001 attacks - Suicide bombing - Israel - Palestinian

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