National / History Dec 4, 2020
He escaped death as a kamikaze pilot. 70 years later, he told his story.
by Ben Dooley
Kazuo Odachi hid his wartime past from almost everyone, but finally published his memoirs, which were recently released in English.
Books Aug 15, 2020
'Memoirs of a Kamikaze': A teenage World War II pilot’s life in his own words
by Louise George Kittaka
Kazuo Odachi’s memoir about his life as a kamikaze pilot is a poignant reminder of the resilience of humanity in times of adversity.
National / History | JAPAN TIMES GONE BY Nov 2, 2019
Japan Times 1944: Kamikaze Attack Corps lives up to its name
Determined to follow in the footsteps of the First Special Kamikaze Attack Corps, the men of the Second Special Kamikaze Attack Corps hopped off from their base at 10 a.m. on Oct. 27 and successfully fulfilled their glorious mission of crash-diving on the enemy ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Sep 9, 2017
Abe's extremism undermines Japan's interests
by Jeff Kingston
Alas, Japan's extremists have still not given up trying to find honor in the nation's 1945 wartime defeat and and the ideology that led to it.
National Nov 13, 2015
Reserve kamikaze pilot remembers war's waste, urges youth to learn its history
by Keigo Matsushita
Although the death of his comrades meant little to him at the time, a former World War II reserve kamikaze pilot says a remark by a ranking officer after Japan's surrender that the country had fought the war in vain troubled him greatly. Now, Tomokazu ...
Issues | JUST BE CAUSE May 3, 2015
Japan-U.S. effort to tell suicide pilots' stories dodges controversy, wins praise
by Debito Arudou
JBC sits down for an interview with Dr. M.G. Sheftall of Shizuoka University about the kamikaze phenomenon and what makes this exhibition unique.
National Apr 12, 2015
USS Missouri hosts Kamikaze exhibit to mark 70th anniversary of attack
A kamikaze exhibition opened Saturday aboard the USS Missouri, now a memorial in Hawaii's Pearl Harbor, to mark the 70th anniversary of a Japanese pilot's suicide attack on the battleship during World War II. The exhibition shows how young Kamikaze pilots lived before crashing their ...
National Mar 3, 2015
Two kamikaze pilots, two late reprieves, one pacifist view
by Maiko Takahashi
Hisashi Tezuka knew his life had been spared when he heard the Emperor's voice crackling through the wireless. As Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's wartime surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, the young kamikaze pilot was on a train to the island of Shikoku to carry out ...
National / History Nov 5, 2014
Philippines man leads lonely quest to honor kamikaze pilots
by Ronron Calunsod
Seventy years after Japan formed its first kamikaze unit in the Philippines, one local resident remains adamant that the suicide pilots were noble warriors who should be honored in the nation their military occupied. Daniel Dizon, 84, is co-founder of the Kamikaze Memorial Society of ...
National / History Aug 14, 2014
Surrender had lasting impact on many Japanese after war's end
by Ayako Mie
Many Japanese people remember Aug. 15 as the day World War II ended. Sixty-nine years ago today, in a speech broadcast on the radio, Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan had notified the Allied powers of its acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. But the war did ...
National May 15, 2014
by Ko Shu-Ling
Toward the end of World War II, following a series of military defeats, and faced with a rapidly deteriorating ability to defend the homeland, Japan began launching aerial suicide attacks on Allied forces in the Pacific. These were called kamikaze attacks, which had a dramatic ...
National / Science & Health | NATURAL SELECTIONS Mar 15, 2014
Historical ifs and weathers or not
by Rowan Hooper
To suggest that history is shaped by chance weather events and climatic variation doesn't lend it quite the same gravitas as if it were wrought by great leaders. It certainly isn't as inspirational. But such processes can be just as important — and the ...