What does the word "Kamikaze" mean?
Q: What does the word "Kamikaze" mean?
A: Kamikaze is a Japanese word meaning "divine wind". It originally referred to a typhoon that destroyed Mongol ships in the 13th century and saved Japan from invasion. In Western culture, it has come to mean suicide pilots of the Empire of Japan who flew their planes into enemy ships during World War II.
Q: How did the Western world come to use the term "Kamikaze"?
A: The American translators mistakenly used a different style of pronunciation for the Japanese language and read shinpū ("divine wind") as kamikaze, as those Japanese characters can be read both ways. This name became so well known after the war that even Japanese people started using it.
Q: What was the correct name given by Japanese military for pilots?
A: The correct name given by Japanese military for pilots was tokubetsu kōgeki tai (特別攻撃隊), which literally means "special attack team". This is usually abbreviated tokkōtai (特攻隊) in a shortened form.
Q: How were Navy pilots' suicide attacks called?
A: Navy pilots' suicide attacks were called shinpū tokubetsu kōgeki tai (神風特別攻撃隊, "divine wind special attack team").
Q: When did these suicide attacks take place?
A: These suicide attacks took place during the final years of World War II.
Q: What does “shinpū” mean?
A: Shinpū means “divine wind” in Japanese.
