How to Be a Kamikaze Pilot | SideQuest Animated History

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Join us as we explore the dramatic and haunting history of the Kamikaze pilots in this gripping episode of SideQuest, diving into the tragic but profound narrative of these Japanese aviators and examining the cultural and historical factors that led to their ultimate sacrifice.
The story unfolds against the backdrop of Japan's intense dedication to its warrior culture, rooted in the samurai's ethos of Bushido, a moral code emphasizing courage and self-sacrifice. As Japan modernized and sought to rival Western powers, this ethos was reshaped to promote unwavering loyalty to the Emperor. This fervent allegiance fueled Japan's military might, leading to triumphs in conflicts but ultimately driving the nation towards a fateful confrontation with the United States during World War II.
One haunting, yet beautiful remnant of the kamikaze program is the collection of death poems many pilots left behind. You can read excerpts here: scholarship.rollins.edu/cgi/v...
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0:00 - Juicy Historical Context!
3:40 - War Thunder
4:57 - The First Kamikaze Mission
7:20 - The Kamikaze Program
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Further Reading:
“Kamikaze: To Die for the Emperor” by Peter C. Smith - www.google.com/books/edition/...

[@SideQuestYT]

Many thanks to War Thunder for supporting us! Play War Thunder now for free and get a 7-day premium account, multiple premium vehicles and the Eagle of Valor decoration by following this link: playwt.link/sidequest

[@SideQuestYT]

Also, here's the link to the Kamikaze Death Poems, whose collection is a story as tragic as the poems themselves: scholarship.rollins.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1154&context=specs

[@landonrivers]

Can you be a Kamikaze pilot in War Thunder?

[@houseplant1016]

​@@landonriversSearch "my name is Jafar and I come from afar", that's the key to your question lmfao

[@pyeitme508]

RAD @@SideQuestYT

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@SideQuestYT And don't you think it's morally reprehensible to advertise a product that makes simulated entertainment out of the real suffering of people while your video is topically discussing the historicity of that very thing the product of entertainment is based on? I'd have zero issues with a wargame advertisement under any other topic, but here it's just in bad taste dude... like Hellofresh as a sponsor on a video about starvation. The juxtaposition is just making my skin crawl.

[@fish2140]

My great grandmother (92) told me she used to work in the factories making the parts for the zeros. She told me many stories about how every now and then there would be parades sending off the high school students to war while praising their bravery even though everyone knew they were destined to die. She told us of the "red paper 赤紙" which was essentially a red piece of paper stating you were being drafted, and her neighbors 17 year old boy was drafted into the air force, most likely to be used as a suicide bomber. He never came back. The boys family told us how he would send letters saying he was very proud to serve for the country but also fearful. In the letters he would state how the officers would give the student pilots "special pills" in order to make them stronger(most likely meth) before their last flight. They would teach the students how to take off and how to aim, but never how to land. Truly horrifying stories. I'm glad videos like these share the background in detail, war is terrible and it's important to keep passing these lessons onto the next generation.

[@Krix6426]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@stonemorris5356]

Not Meth, Crank. There's a South Korean movie about how after the war a lot of Japanese were still addicted and the South Koreans would sell big bags of Crank with the words Made In Korea on them.

[@cuboidbirdsgaming1100]

@@stonemorris5356Crank is slang for Meth, my guy

[@Packless1]

@@stonemorris5356 ...indeed...in the german army such pills (Pervitin) were nicknamed 'Panzerschokolade' (tank-choclate)... 😵‍💫 ...no 'Blitzkrieg' without dope...! 😱

[@rigo.acosta]

@@stonemorris5356 meth is crank genius, do some research before commenting

[@brokenbridge6316]

Fun Fact: Some Japanese air commanders thought that the Kamikaze was very stupid waste of life and felt that reorganizing their air groups would be a more effective use of their time. As well as introducing new aircraft to counter the American Hellcat. But these men were completely ignored.

[@TMG-Germany]

This happens when you don't have an actual airforce.

[@brentoncavallaro2040]

introducing a new aircraft at this time was completely impossible as they had neither the resources to design a plane to counter the hellcat nor the oil to train new pilots, the factories for large-scale production due to us bombings, nor the ships to transport large amounts of new planes to the front with all the American submarines lurking in the pacific. remember they turned to kamikazes in the first place because of how desperate the situation had become so i understand why the men calling for new planes were ignored

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@brentoncavallaro2040---But the Japanese did introduce the Fighter codenamed George and that seemed to have an effect on the Hellcat.

[@spaceman6215]

I guess a twisted way to look at this was... Normally a single seat aircraft like the outdated fighters used in these attacks, rarely got to be an ace (5 confirmed plane take downs) and so their thought process might have been "50-200 kills for 1 pilot and 1 outdated plane is a good deal" especially when targeting ships. Their near suicidal sea mine frog men and mini subs prove that it wasn't just the air force willing to throw bodies at the problem.

[@paperclipcereal5896]

Unfortunately for the Japanese the kamikaze were probably the most resource-efficient bad option they had. They didn't have the ability to keep up with American production in planes or ships by a long shot.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Fun Fact: Potential Kamikaze pilots didn't have much of a choice. They were under a lot of peer pressure to volunteer willingly or they would be shunned and humiliated anyway. So on the questionnaire they were given they all had had to check the box that said "I Willingly Volunteer" or they would face humiliation. Even after their were pilots that didn't even want to go. Some would cry or carry on. It was a very unfortunate existence for them all.

[@ahmedmani1051]

couldn't they surrender to the allies and keep their life at least?

[@spaceman6215]

@@ahmedmani1051 I imagine at this point in the war alot of ally. Especially American aircraft carriers or bases were very willing to let a Japanese plane get that close. For all the kamikaze attacks etc. But also a big part was honor, even if they didn't want to do it. Their afterlife, like Christian heaven wouldn't be accessible I imagine if they in their heart of hearts surrendered. Hence the many last stands and no surrenders that the Japanese made up until and some exceeding 1945.

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@spaceman6215---Good Point

[@ferretyluv]

*there

[@user-et2dx5du7e]

​@@ahmedmani1051the japanese were brainwashed to believe that the americans were some kind of barbarian race , they believed they would be killed by the americans .

[@spaceman6215]

A quick story to put into perspective how mental some of the kamikaze pilots were. One man applied but was turned down because he had a wife and 2 kids. He told her of this and he then received a letter back, she had drowned their 2 children and by the time he read the letter she too had killed herself. He accepted her actions as a sacrifice for their honour, and was then accepted to be a kamikaze pilot, and died fighting the US in a kamikaze attack. Correction Smethells2023 replied with both a source and a correction to my comment. The pilot actually received leave and discovered his wife's actions at what I assume was their family home. I'm not sure if that is better or not. But a source has been named should that be what you are looking for.

[@nanogammeryd2462]

My god that’s horrible. Those 2 kids didn’t deserve too die. They had lived before them.

[@Norsilca]

Citation?

[@TheRealDrSick]

​​@@NorsilcaThis is one of those stories that gets told a lot but no one ever cites a source for. I've heard it before. It wouldn't surprise me if there was some truth to it. There are lots of tragic stories like this from WW2

[@jeffsmith8197]

If that story is true then they were two imbeciles who died for nothing after murdering their children. 'Honor' is whatever the most powerful govt or religion of a country says it is.

[@MateusChristopher]

Propaganda but a damn good one

[@M8V3N187]

Kamikaze instructor: Alright, listen up fellas. Only gonna show you this once

[@ketsuekikumori9145]

Pilot: So is this a volunteer job or am I being voluntold? Admiral: Yes.

[@DownWithBureaucracy]

You're being told to volunteer. Entirely optional, so long as you do it

[@ThatGUY666666]

The worst part of the Kamikaze program in my opinion was that part of the "blue print for their resistance" it inspired as SideQuest put it was to turn the entire civilian population into one giant kamikaze force (albeit without planes). This is one of the reasons why some estimates place the number of likely Japanese casualties in the event of a U.S. invasion of Japan between 5 and 10 million. If you are feeling like you want some chilling reading look up "Operation Downfall" and "Operation Ketsugo"

[@Mordecrox]

Which is why I often hear an argument (sometimes in favor but most of the time pointing out) that the a-bomb did curb them because traditional warfare would make them offer resistance to invaders to make them pay... But what honor is there when the foe can remotely drop the sun on you? .

[@dragonace119]

@@Mordecrox Exactly, while the firebombing campaign did way more damage and kill more people than both the A-bombs did its was the sheer shock factor of such large bombs and the thought that the US had more than those two dropped.

[@ExtantPerson]

@@Mordecroxthere isn’t much honor in war anyway, and there wouldn’t be much in an invasion of Japan. Not saying the atomic bombs were a good thing by any means but what would happen with the alternative?

[@gustavlarsson7494]

​@@MordecroxI highly recommend the video Dropping the Bomb by Shaun. He really digs into the nitty gritty 👍

[@user-et2dx5du7e]

yeah I'm a japanese myself, most of us actualy believe that the bomb was invetieble, it was terrible but necessary.

[@PakBallandSami]

an Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Mitsubishi Ki-51 from the 6th Flying Brigade.The attack resulted in the deaths of thirty personnel, including Emile Dechaineux, the captain of the cruiser, and 64 injuries, including Commodore John Collins, the commander of the Australian force.According to the official Australian history of the war, this was the first instance of a kamikaze attack on an Allied ship. Some sources differ because the pilot most likely carried out the attack on his own initiative and it was not a planned attack by a member of the Special Attack Force.

[@simonsocks41]

Some exerts i found touching from the poems: "She will not remember her father" "When it happens, I will be afraid. I am not a liar. I am courageous." "My son follows the snake of the train with wonder - he is still fascinated with this world." "A man placing bets counts his money underneath storm clouds. I am only waiting. I am only waiting."

[@aWILDsomethingCAME]

In case you were wondering, the vessel sunk by the first successful kamikaze strike was the carrier St Lo!

[@ScarletRebel96]

The song Battotai playing in the background is a really nice touch

[@AysDoStuff]

Thanks for the tutorial, I hope they have a long career

[@firepower7017]

You seem to learn it fast, you should volunteer.

[@testtn]

The story of how the Kamikaze Death Poems collection came into being is quite the story in itself. Thank you for the link in the description.

[@dasamont8274]

The hardest part of flying a plane is the landing, so it makes sense that they could cut the training down to a month by forgoing that part of the skillset

[@GeorgeSemel]

Are you sure about that? Just a retired professional pilot.

[@triadwarfare]

​@@GeorgeSemelso what's the hardest part of the flight? The startup?

[@unclejoeoakland]

But they did train them to land. After all, most kamikaze missions were still likely to not require any one pilot to die- the sea is immense and the Japanese hadn't developed radar as well as we had, so it was likely on any one mission that a kamikaze flight would not find a target. They would then return to base.

[@GeorgeSemel]

@@triadwarfare I can teach you to land an airplane in one or two lessons focusing on that; it's much harder for instrument flight. I would put flying an ILS approach, which is the Instrument Landing System, but that is number two. In my opinion, NDB/ADF- Non-Directional Beacon/ Automatic Direction Finder approaches and navigation is the most difficult. Well, there are hot starts- your employer will not be happy with one of those.

[@patchez058]

Strange how we are told so many volunteered but then changed their minds so many times.

[@gregsmith9675]

I love the gritty American accent for the War Thunder plug 😂 Please never change Sidequest!

[@paleoph6168]

6:04 Thank you for pronouncing 'Leyte' correctly!

[@kjohnson6786]

Informative video and fantastic, entertaining visuals. Well done!

[@adamestes5227]

Correction at 3:17: the top plane’s profile is not that of a Mitsubishi Ki-51, which was a light bomber/reconnaissance aircraft, while the profile shown in place of the Ki-51 actually that of a Nakajima Ki-115, a dedicated kamikaze aircraft.

[@Krix6426]

Fascinating video. Good work!

[@zakariarab6320]

Kamikaze It's a dying art

[@thinkersreasoning1575]

Thanks I really needed this tutorial.

[@yawn11]

Love the videos. Thanks!

[@TheClintonio]

Quality content as always, thanks SideQuest

[@jacobbeitner8796]

Thanks for the tutorial!

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

In consideration that most bigger Companies in Japan were founded by Samurai Clans; Honda e.g. - it's fair to say that Samurai still holding the same Position as back in the feudal era.

[@mambojambo4717]

Thank you for linking these poems.

[@Eagle3302PL]

It's important to note that the job of the pilots was not to suicide crash into targets, it was to suicide bomb. They effectively were drones, their job was to drop heavy bombs on ships from as close to point blank as a plane can get, that usually meant that you were either crashing into the ship or the ocean anyway due to the angle of attack or aa fire. Small planes like the ones they flew wouldn't do much damage to those huge navy ships but the heavy bombs they carried would crash through multiple decks then explode deep inside ships which would result in many deaths below decks, huge damage below the water line, engine damage, or in worst cases ammunition store explosions. It was not the best strategy to pursue with the scarce resources Japan had, but it was very flashy when it worked and very easy to deploy without having to put much thought into logistics and research that training better pilots and producing better planes would. It was simply a lazy decision by the completely morally bankrupt leadership at the time.

[@OnzelasKakakisa]

Thanks for the guide

[@roballister5269]

where'd u been!? u hadnt posted in a while - love ur vids

[@jazznuka276]

Back then occupied koreans were forcibly conscripted to be kamikaze pilot. there's a letter of a korean pilot whos saying he's joining the pilot program because japanese promised to leave their family alone or exempt his little brother from conscription. The letter was smeared with tear marks. japanese tried to list these letters as UNESCO treasure. The attempt has been blocked.

[@gamingforever9121]

Source?

[@Peydonary]

Man i love these videos

[@supermarinespitfire6139]

5:04 Yamamoto was dead in 1943 after an air-to-air ambush on his transport aircraft.

[@James-id3yw]

Well done lads your training is complete. We covered take off and flying What about landing? Eh Don't worry about it

[@citrus1225]

Every time they return I’m hyped

[@Vinny__212]

The animation of promise showing up in the shadow of defeat was brilliant!

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

Grimly fascinating stuff

[@JamesChurchill3]

Thanks, this is very useful for my trip to Hawaii next week.

[@christaylor6654]

Happy new years

[@Mountain_Man_]

Idk why but I was to busy listening to the music to watch the video. Awesome video btw

[@arg1051]

That one poem, "She will not remember her father."

[@arg1051]

... and after reading the introduction more closely and not finding any supporting evidence for the events listed outside this document, I'm wondering if this is real.

[@ayyylmao4036]

Being a kamikaze pilot is a once in a lifetime opportunity

[@Oroberus]

The most ironic thing about all of this is that the Zero was among the best if not even THE best fighter plane and severely outmatched pretty much everything it faced in the skies but they turned it to mere one-time-use-drones

[@jtwg4th253]

At the beginning of the war yes, but by the end of the war no. I would recommend Drachinifel's video for a good technical breakdown of the Zero & how it compared over the course of the war.

[@jasonhorsley2637]

Wonder if those men knew that their heroic poems would be lumped together in a youtube description, alongside a meme game sponsorships. Excellent video as always. But the juxtaposition of those two links at the tale end gave me a good chuckle, jesus.

[@docstockandbarrel]

"Classic mistake--we've all been there." Golden.

[@maximduglio7554]

thank you for linking the pomes, could you do a video on the Japanese suicide submarines ,Kaiten

[@thedead12]

Hippit Hoppity Your Battleship is now an Imperial Japanese Aircraftcarrier

[@gp-1542]

Would be interested on a topic on Japan After the war

[@christopherross9509]

The journey of the posted Kamikaze poems deserve an episode themselves. Wow.

[@FoxSnootz]

Can you do all ad reads in LGR’s duke voice? Thx

[@thatoneguy7191]

The voice slowly morphing into American English for the ad really got me xD

[@masternecro3511]

This video overlooks how many of the "volunteers" were forced or coerced into "volunteering", or even tricked into it.

[@chheinrich8486]

Well if the pilots didnt do it, godzilla would show up and give them the worse PTSD ever

[@combatmikearms]

Just a little pointer: the war cabinet being shown in 1944 should not include isoroku yamamoto, as he had been killed in 1943 already. Just a little detail I noticed

[@BoereViking]

Any landing you can ealk away from is a good landing... Launchpad McQuak

[@catoelder4696]

AWESOME

[@user-et2dx5du7e]

this is the best documentary on the war i havr ever seen, most of it is either down right wrong or filled with american proppaganda from the time and unnecessary japanese hate.

[@dnikolz6875]

vid should have been a second long, where'd you get that intel?

[@repuIsive]

the battotai in the background

[@maxmustermann4141]

if google is right, this tactic sank 50 ships. using up thousands of planes and menpower doesnt seem like it was really worth it in the end. not that japan could have won the war in any case...

[@tessat338]

Yamamoto was dead by 1944. He was shot down by American fighters in April of 1943, so we can't know his opinion of sending suicide pilots against ships.

[@pr0xyy677]

they should bring back the poems before going into war but this time its the hardest freestyle youve ever heard

[@whiteninjaplus5]

Step 1. Know how to fly but not land. Step 2. Fly and don't land!

[@arvhie9058]

thats crazy

[@Fenrisson]

Good joke at the end. I smirked.

[@fyang1429]

First, it’s never officially called “kamikaze” - from what I have seen this was mispronounced because the kanji had different possible pronunciations. Officially it was read with the Chinese-like pronunciation - shinpu. They also didn’t seem to use the word that often since there were other kinds of suicide attacks as well beside the aerial one. Instead it seems to be more commonly referred to as Tokkou - “special attack”

[@user-et2dx5du7e]

it was called kamikaze, tokkou is a word to describe the act of suicidal atack.the torpedos kaiten were tokkou weapons, kamikaze was just one of them.

[@jeanmatthews3899]

what is the bgm i know the first one is battotai but the others are unknown to me

[@Alexstew]

Step 1 get plane Step 2 find boat Step 3 DIVE

[@simenon5929]

How very apropriate for the christmas season

[@DravidianRealm69]

Finish Grey Eminence!

[@roisoleilxiv14]

There is a video of History Matters on this subject aswell, but there it is mentioned, that pilots of aborted attacks were just "reused" the next time without much fuzz about it.

[@psyxypher3881]

Maybe using your most skilled pilots as ammunition is a bad idea in protracted warfare.

[@MissInformer]

They definitely did not use their most skilled pilots. The Japanese govt itself admitted to enlisting teenage children to pilot the crafts. They left the skilled airmen to train the teens on how to take off.

[@basedblackbeard4456]

​@@MissInformerReminds me of the Iran Iraq war where the Iranians used teenage boys to run threw minefields to clear them for the tanks to go threw

[@NotJm037]

I can finally reenact the family guy moment

[@raedwulf61]

So, thanks a lot France.

[@zHfHnG]

Background music: very obviosly Battotai

[@Meme-Republic]

Dying For the Emperor sounds like 40k moments.

[@ricks5756]

In the late 1800's & early 1900's, the Empire of Russia was not industrialized. 1904 / 1905 Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War .

[@molybdaen11]

Ah jes, the „volunteers”.

[@TheBearInTheChair]

**Battōtai Intensifies**

[@gunargundarson1626]

Kamikaze hasn't been a booming business ever since unmanned drones were invented.

[@firepower7017]

The Germans used guided bombs to attack ships during WW2. So I guess it couldn't beat the competition to begin with?

[@dominic.h.3363]

I see comments on this video shadow banned left and right. Never forget that the difference between disseminating information and spreading propaganda is, that the former is designed to engage you intellectually, and the latter is designed to appeal to your emotions.

[@os-qv4wl]

lmfaoooo

[@revinhatol]

Holy Wind

[@pawibus]

@SideQuestYT I wish you'd have put a little more space between "go read suicide poetry" and "go buy this game."

[@teytreet7358]

Proximity fuse.

[@leeroyo]

What did the kamikaze flight instructor tell his students? I'm only gonna show you this once.

[@2782Jack]

I've never heard that one before, lol

[@ryuunosuk3]

@@2782Jack that's an old one, never heard of the muslim suicide bomber instructor joke? it's the same

[@KucingIskandar]

Real handy right now with Japan's recent remilitarization

[@fireaza]

From article 9 of the Japanese constitution: " Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." If you're thinking this is a sneaky build up to mark the return of Imperial Japan, think again.

[@0ee63]

Oh no bros. They fired the animator ;_;

[@shannoncole7051]

I'm pretty sure it was a ceremonial toast of Sake, not water... Although, it could have been water. I wasn't there nor did I partake...

[@matthewhungerford1861]

you didn't mention pilots were allowed to turn back if they lacked a target.

[@medos9854]

Play war thunder and you will see a lot of Kamikaze

[@sniperniko]

When world nedeed him most, he came back

[@shaider1982]

Just trying to gain proficuency in flying was dangerous to US air superority. So the new pilots were sent like this to do max damage instead of conventional attacks.

[@TinyBearTim]

Why did gaijin make it so the codes don’t work for old account u used to be able to get something from them even if ur account isn’t new

[@jeanmatthews3899]

the codes are meant to invite new players, not old

[@TinyBearTim]

@@jeanmatthews3899 I want the decals and the eagle the codes used to be useable to get some items if u were old

[@sirhenrymorgan1187]

Not all of the kamikaze were willing. Some were randomly selected as a test of loyalty. It was really just an excuse to get rid of pilots nobody liked. Ethnic Koreans especially...

[@MisterOcclusion]

If they all died, presumably with no bodies recovered, then how does anyone know who the first successful attacker was?

[@itsafeh0007]

Comms? Radio has been a thing in planes pretty much since they were invented. Also, they can track the different planes and see where they end up. Naturally, that's not to say that records weren't modified later, but that is always the issue with history.

[@molybdaen11]

Because they flew not alone Obviously.

[@Fuckthis0341]

“Ceremonial toast of water.” What a lame life

[@ARTEMIX888]

I am not first!!!

[@merikatools568]

You know they rubbed one last one out on the flight over

[@doyouguysnothavephones8967]

The lesson to be learned here is that Fascism still exists in the World today, and history will be repeated if we don’t stop it.

[@ExtantPerson]

Idk if this was the video you meant to comment this on. This is a video about Imperial Japan’s kamikazes.

[@doyouguysnothavephones8967]

​@@ExtantPerson I'm speechless that you thought my comment is unrelated to the video...

[@ExtantPerson]

@@doyouguysnothavephones8967 Can you explain how it is related?

[@doyouguysnothavephones8967]

@@ExtantPerson Let me give you a hint: What kind of government do you think Imperial Japan (and its allies) had?

[@ExtantPerson]

@@doyouguysnothavephones8967 Yes, I see the connection with Fascism there. But what confuses me is that you said it still exists in the world today. Imperial Japan died with the atomic bombs, so what else are you referring to that is somehow related to this video?