Laurence Rees looks at the Kamikaze phenomenon.
This refers to the Japanese pilots’ “suicide missions” during World War II, that involved relentlessly bombarding Allied targets by diving straight in with their planes, and thus killing themselves in the process. Most were persuaded to do so as a means of self-sacrifice for the emperor of Japan, Hirohito.
This program uses archival footage to explore this grotesque and deeply tragic facet of the said global conflict.
Distributed by BBC. Written/produced/directed by Laurence Rees. The release date 2001.
