Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the KamikazePenguin, 09.05.2023 - 496 Seiten A revelatory and groundbreaking account of Imperial Japan’s kamikaze—the suicide pilots of World War II—as told through the eyes of the survivors In the final year of World War II, a horrific new weapon was unleashed in the Pacific: the kamikaze. Idealistic, young Japanese men had been taught that there was no greater glory than to sacrifice one’s life to defend the homeland. Now, with the war all but lost, thousands of these determined warriors were hastily trained in the basics of piloting an airplane, then sent out in waves to crash into enemy warships, suicide attacks that killed altogether some seven thousand American sailors. But what of those men who took the sacred oath to die in battle and lived? In the wake of 9/11, ethnographer M. G. Sheftall was given unprecedented access to the cloistered community of Japan’s last remaining kamikaze survivors. As an American fluent in Japanese, Sheftall was the only westerner to ever sit face-to-face with these men and hear their stories. The result is a fascinating journey into the lives, indoctrination, and mindsets of the kamikaze, through the eyes of participants who are now lost to time. |
Inhalt
ST LO OVERTURE | 3 |
THE ROAD TO MABALACAT | 19 |
POSTER | 49 |
FED UP WITH LOSING AND READY TO | 56 |
AN OLD MANS DREAM | 73 |
THE LIGHTS OF TALISAY | 87 |
THE YOKAREN CANDIDATE | 113 |
WANTED WINGS | 133 |
FIREFLIES | 275 |
A PEACEFUL VILLAGE | 300 |
THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN | 305 |
WAR CLOUDS | 325 |
VISITORS | 336 |
SETAGAYA KANNON | 353 |
PILGRIMAGE TO CHIRAN | 374 |
KUDAN KAIKAN | 387 |
AMENITIES | 147 |
LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD WAR GODS | 155 |
FLIGHT OF THE THUNDER GODS | 183 |
ECHOES OF THUNDER | 191 |
BRIGHTEYED BOYS FROM THE PROVINCES | 197 |
FIGHTER JOCK | 210 |
BELT OF A THOUSAND STITCHES | 236 |
BAND OF SISTERS | 251 |
THE NADESHIKO UNIT | 267 |
HARUMI KAWASAKI | 397 |
METAL IMPLEMENT NUMBER | 405 |
ENTER THE KAITEN | 412 |
EPILOGUE | 439 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 447 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SUGGESTED READING | 461 |
471 | |
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