Kamikaze

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Wind of the God 神風 Kamikaze

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Heaven

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Explanation

David Lanoue explains:
Literally, kamikaze refers to a "providential wind," the "wind of the gods." Long after Issa's time, the word was used to describe suicide planes packed with explosives that pilots flew into enemy ships.

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Kamikaze 神風, the divine wind, is now another expression for the strong typhoons that come to hit Japan especially in autumn.

The expression was coined after a strong wind destroyed the Mongol fleet of Kublai Khan on its way to invade Japan in 1274 and again in 1281.

The Japanese think of the Gods of Wind and Thunder (fuujin, raijin 風神雷神 as their special patrons and there are many pieces of art depicting these two.
The god of wind carries a big bag and the god of thunder a set of drums.




The use of KAMIKAZE for the suicidal attacks by Japanese airplains during WW II is now well known worldwide.



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- quote
Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms:
The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney
- source : edu/kamikaze

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In 1274 Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan landed a large expeditionary force on the island of Kyushu, but was driven off by Japanese warriors. In 1281, he made another attempt, but with a much larger force, combining 40,000 troops from North China and 100,000 troops from South China. The two huge invasion fleets converged off Kyushu. Japanese religious leaders prayed for deliverance as the invasion fleet approached. A huge typhoon hit the coast, sinking many of the Mongol boats, half were killed or perished. Those who survived fled back to the Chinese mainland.The grateful Japanese called this particular typhoon KAMIKAZE, or DIVINE WIND.

In blossom today, then scattered;
Life is so like a delicate flower.
How can one expect the fragrance to last forever?
Admiral Takajiro Onishi

WWII - A desperate time when humans found new and more terrible ways of killing each other. Out of this desperation came the Japanese suicide bomber.
To the Kamikaze, bomb and bomber were one and the same.

Called into power by Emperor Hirohito and creatively offered the rank of "God", 2,500 men were to spend their last terrifying moments as human artillery streaking towards their target encased in airplanes, mini - subs, and bomb loaded speed boats. These "Knights of the Divine Wind", so horrifyingly accurate in their attacks, took the lives of over 7,000 Allied servicemen during the reign of the first initiated, and there were still another 4,500 Japanese men being prepared for Knighthood.
Read more here
-- 　Japanese_Kamikaze ...



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 .

神風や畠の稲穂そよぐ也
kamikaze ya hatake no inaho soyogu nari

divine wind!
rice heads in the field
rustling



神風や虻が教へる山の道
kamikaze ya abu ga oshieru yama no michi

divine wind--
the horsefly leads
on the mountain road



神風や畠の稲の五六尺
kamikaze ya hatake no ine no go roku shaku

divine wind--
the rice in the field
five, six feet tall

Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


. 神風や飯を掘出す秋の山
kamikaze ya meshi o horidasu aki no yama .
and Iizuna Gongen

- quote -
The Mongol invasions of Japan of 1274 and 1281 were major military invasions and conquests undertaken by Kublai Khan to take the Japanese islands after the capitulation of Goryeo (Korea). Despite their ultimate failure, the invasion attempts are of macrohistorical importance, because they set a limit on Mongol expansion, and rank as nation-defining events in Japanese history.
source and more : history.cultural-china.com


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Related words

***** God of Thunder, raijin 雷神

***** Typhoon, Hurricane Japan

***** War and Peace (senso to heiwa) 　

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .


. Shizuoka 静岡県 .
熱海市 Atami city
If someone goes to the mountain on the day of the festival for Yamanokami, he will be blown away by kamikaze 神風 a divine storm.

- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -
09 神風 (01)
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