Kamikaze A6M Zero T-Shirt

Kamikaze is a Japanese term that means the wind of God or the divine wind in Portuguese. This word became known for being the name of a typhoon that allegedly saved Japan from being invaded by an army of conquerors of the Mongolian Empire. The term was also known to designate a group of suicidal pilots at the time of World War II, known at the time as Taiatari Tokubetsu Kogekitai ​ ("Special Group of Attacks for Body Shock"). The kamikazes were a special attack unit in World War II. They were known to carry out suicide attacks by Japanese Empire military warriors on Allied ships to destroy as many warships as possible. Some attacks happened because the planes didn't have enough fuel to reach a safe base. Despite this, many of the attacks were completely intentional, and even before they took off, the pilots were already prepared to die. The kamikazes were young Japanese pilots who threw their planes at enemy ships. The kamikaze attack was a very controversial topic, because in this case the pilot or the entire crew of an attacking airplane died, eliminating the chances of rescue. Once committed to the deadly dive, it was impossible to survive the attack. The Japanese aviators had the culture that defeat or failure in their mission was a cause of dishonor, and did not hesitate to carry them out in the best possible way. Around 2 525 pilots died in these attacks, causing the death of 4 900 Allied soldiers and leaving more than 4 000 injured. The number of vessels sunk is controversial. The Japanese propaganda at the time reported that the attacks managed to sink 81 ships and damage another 195. The American Armed Forces claim that 34 boats sank and 368 were damaged.