Statistical Analysis of World War II Kamikaze Attacks Show Incompetency of Imperial Japnese Military Leaders
I highly recommend that anyone with an interest in World War II history to take a read of the below posting that translates a Mainichi Shinbun article that shows how ineffective and incompetent the Kamikaze attacks were for the Imperial Japanese military during World War II:
One of the defining symbols of the vicious struggle between the US and Japan in the Pacific War, this word always conjures up a conflicting mix of emotions inside me. The very word “kamikaze” has become a synonym for “suicide attack” in the English language. The way WW2 was taught in school (in America) pretty much left us with the impression that kamikaze attacks were part of the standard strategy of the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy throughout the entire war. However, it was only recently that I was surprised to learn that the first time the Japanese introduced this strategy was on October 25, 1944 during the second Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Mainichi Shinbun here in Japan put together a wonderful collection to commemorate the 70th anniversary of this strategy. It features data that has not only been debated and analyzed from a number of angles, but it also provides statistical evidence that underscores the utter failure of this strategy. The title of the article is “Did the divine wind really blow? ‘Special strikes’ claim lives of 4000,” and it is the second part of a three part series called “Numbers tell a tale—Looking at the Pacific War through data”. The first part was posted in mid-August, and the third and final part is due to be put online in December. The original Japanese version for this special can be accessed here. The slides I refer to numbers “1” to “5” listed at the very bottom of each page. The current slide is the one highlighted in blue.
In this post, I will provide an overview of the information on this site while occasionally inserting my own analysis and translations of select quotes. I hope it helps to paint a clearer picture of a truly flawed strategy that is still not properly understood by both sides. [TheFairJilt.com]
Click the link to read the full article, but some of the interesting facts are that only 11% of attacks were successful compared to much higher percentages for dive bomb attacks. The Kamikaze tactic also caused Japan to lose many skilled pilots and advanced aircraft that led to them having to quickly produce inferior pilots and aircraft to replace them. Very interesting read.
Was there mistreatment of US POW’s by the Japanese? Are there any evidence that there were any kind of mistreatments? Japanese protest the new movie “Broken” directed by Angelina Jolie, as unfounded, racist, and insulting lies. Japan may ban Jolie from entering Japan ever again.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11280115/Japans-nationalists-attack-Angelina-Jolie-war-film.html
Also, Japan has evidence that it was the US who sneak attacked Japan and it was the US who declared war on Japan. The Japanese people explains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhTwRbMVI5A
History Channel tv series called Military Blunder also classified Kamikaze as failure as well.
Actually, the attack on Pearl Harbor may show overarching incompetence in strategic planning. Naval Marshal General Isoroku Yamamoto recognized this.
Just as if the Reich had left Russia alone until they had dealt with their foes to their west.
Kamikazes may not have been strictly effective in the normal military sense considering cost vs benefit but there is no denying the psychological effects.
History is written by the winners.
I don’t imagine that a kamikaze strike was something the pilots were able to effectively practice before they had to do it. They also didn’t have many experts with hands on experience who could come back and teach what works and what doesn’t.
“Just as if the Reich had left Russia alone until they had dealt with their foes to their west.”
Well, attacking Pearl Harbor didn’t quite rise to that level of incompetence.
We’d cut the Japanese off. By contrast, Stalin was supplying Hitler with a lot of much-needed stuff during those years….1.5 million tons of oil (also 1.5 million tons of grain, and many thousands of tons of rubber, timber, phosphates, iron and other valuable metal ores). Heck, those shipments actually kept coming in for a short time even after Germany invaded the USSR. The USSR was that regulated by schedules.
Liz, are you trying to tell us that Obammy was running the USSR during WWII?
Lol Leon.
🙂
The best part of the article was the interview with the only surviving Kamikazi pilot, Chicken Teriyaki.
Leon, don’t be silly. If Obammy had been running the USSR, he would have given amnesty to the invading Germans and established a pathway to citizenship… and excused their invasion as “just blowing off steam” while claiming if he had a son, he would look like Goebbels.
Oh man….that….that was pretty good right there.
“The Kamikaze tactic also caused Japan to lose many skilled pilots …”
Not sure this is correct. Everything I’ve read in the past stated that they did not use their seasoned pilots for Kamikaze. They used rookie pilots fresh out of flight training. The leader of each Kamikaze unit, however, may have been a veteran pilot.
Here is a quote from the article:
So they were using experienced pilots to launch the initial kamikaze attacks, but eventually began to run out of experienced pilots. Thus they began to short track training for future pilots. There is probably not too much skill is required to fly a plane towards a ship compared to learning how to dog fight and conduct dive bomb attacks.
When tone is sent to flight school but they never bother to teach “landing,” you’re probably screwed.
…and lest we forget, Imperial Japan was very much a theocracy.
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”
– Steven Weinberg
When good people do evil things, they aren’t good people. We are what we do.
And…the killing fields of Cambodia, Mao’s China, act would indicate it doesn’t take religion for a whole lot of evil to thrive.
Careful, Liz…
…you are treading dangerously close to pointing out that leftists have killed more people and caused more tragedy than Bush, Hitler, Rush Limbaugh, and the Tea Party combined.
Leon is right, though. Religion has motivated a lot of (presumably) well-meaning people to rationalize and support (and engage in) some pretty crappy behavior.
The constant avoidance, misdirection, and denial of this by religionists really alienate those who try to evaluate religion within a logical rather than emotional framework.
A good example is your reply that appeared to excuse or ignore evil in religion by pointing out that the nonreligious are capable of evil, too… rather than directly addressing Leon’s point that religion can cause good people to do bad things.
Instead of painfully transparent misdirection, a correct response in classical argument theory would be to demand Leon produce examples of religion pushing good people to do bad things… though, as there are likely plenty of examples, this would backfire by proving Leon’s point to be quite correct…
…leading one to wonder why religionists even try to justify their sinful and counter-religious behavior at all.
…and speaking of religion, ISIS is really setting the bar high for crappy religion-based behavior with their new published guidelines on slavery and raape… including justifications for raape of prepubescent non-Muslims.
Go ISIS! At least they aren’t raping boys and covering it up as other religions are prone to do.
Nice to see other Muslims around the world daily taking to the streets to demonstate against this while declaring it un-Islamic.
Which brings up the question… were all of these people born evil or did they get caught up in group dynamics little different than what drove the successes of Pol Pot or Stalin…
…as there is so little difference in the motivational ability of cults of personality regardless if the focal point is Jesus, Muhammad, Mao, or Kim Il-sung.
Now that everybody is properly offended, it would be nice to hear some rational counter arguments.
…but experience has taught me to have very low expectations.
Liz, you’re better than that.
Yep, the good old atheist atrocities fallacy – An absurd form of the tu quoque (“you too”) fallacy, mingled with numerous other logical fallacies and historical inaccuracies.
For example:
Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot were all non-figure skaters. Therefore we can conclude that not being a figure skater causes a person to commit atrocities.
None of these three dictators believed in the existence of leprechauns, hence the lack of belief in leprechauns causes people to commit atrocities.
From what I gather, Liz was just saying it doesn’t require religion for evil to thrive.
She wasn’t implying that atheism or perceived atheism in her examples was the cause of evil.
Just like Leon wasn’t implying that Japan did evil things just because it was a religious empire…..right Leon?
I can go with that Johnnyboy. Religion alone was not the cause in that case. It was an important contributing factor.
Johnnyboy: “From what I gather, Liz was just saying it doesn’t require religion for evil to thrive.
She wasn’t implying that atheism or perceived atheism in her examples was the cause of evil.”
Thankyou, yes.
How were you able to discern that I was just saying it doesn’t require religion for evil to thrive? Was it my statement “it doesn’t take religion for a whole lot of evil to thrive”? I was beginning to think I’d said something else but….well, it’s still up there, exactly the same way I remember writing it.
CH: “The constant avoidance, misdirection, and denial of this by religionists really alienate those who try to evaluate religion within a logical rather than emotional framework.
A good example is your reply that appeared to excuse or ignore evil in religion by pointing out that the nonreligious are capable of evil, too… rather than directly addressing Leon’s point that religion can cause good people to do bad things.”
I was directly addressing Leon’s point.
His quote flat out stated that only religion can make “good people do evil things”.
Everyone has their own justifications for the bad things they do. Some people have religious reasons. Is religion responsible for a lot of death in this world? Definitely. So are pretty much all ideologies (including ones we accept, like Democracy…blood of the patriots, and all that).
Elimination of religious freedom in general is integral in the more totalitarian ideologies (including religious based totalitarianism). It’s part and parcel to the concept of collectivism and state control over the individual.
Johnnyboy, again thankyou…rereading my post I’m not sure if what I was trying to convey might have been lost. You interpreted what I said correctly and I was beginning to think I’d stated something else after CH and Leon’s responses.
CH: “Now that everybody is properly offended, it would be nice to hear some rational counter arguments.”
Counter arguments to what, CH? What motivates people? If members of ISIS are bad people doing bad things or good people doing bad things? As I stated, you are what you do. The ISIS folks aren’t good people. Yes, religion can be heavily motivating. It’s also a form of psychotherapy. It offers hope to people and that in itself can be a very powerful thing. It’s also used as a means of curbing criminality when the state is too weak to do so, and a means of inserting order into chaotic societies, which enhances the chances for survival.
We see, for instance, much more exercise of religious freedom in societies that have strong and functioning governments that exercise power over large areas and keep things from delving into mass violence, savagery, deceit via enforced law.
In areas of the world that have nonfunctioning governments and rely on either tribal systems of “justice” or (worse) warlord justice religious freedoms aren’t as feasible, adherence to cultural taboos (“honor your ancestors, don’t eat pig meat or you will be unclean”) much stricter, and religious ideologies are sometimes the only form of enforceable law available.
And for “lightness”, this religion-related song. It’s from the new album of my favorite band!
Stryper! (just kidding Leon) 😉
It is my favorite band, and a good song. But it’s not Stryper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2My8ytHc8o
I was kidding about the ‘lightness’ it’s not really a ‘light’ song or light type of band.
I don’t listen to things like hootie and the blowfish. 🙂
(just had to have six posts. I like even numbers. This is the most I’ve ever posted in a row, anywhere!….now, I’ll stop before ROK drop bans me for being a troll)
Oh, no! Seven posts…might be a goocher! Which is rechoog spelled backwards, when at half speed that surely means something in satan talk.
What’s most interesting to me, a lot more interesting than religion itself, is how people come to impressions they have about it. We’re the product of our experiences and I was raised by atheists. I had to walk to church on my own, and actually I associate religion with a positive experience. My mom went to a Catholic school, and she associates it with a bad experience (though she is strangely superstitious at the same time…Italian thing, I guess).
I’ll certainly known my share of religious morons and freaks. Eliminate the religion from their lives and they wouldn’t be any less freaky, or moronic.
I picked up what you were laying down, Liz and I didn’t take it the wrong way.
Some of the best people I have ever known were good, religious (and just so happens Christian specifically) people. My grandfather had to be the kindest person I’ve ever met. Non-judgmental and compassionate for ALL people.
Some of the best people I’ve ever known weren’t religious at all. One of my goals, though I often fall short, is to live the best parts of Christian values without actually believing in a higher being. I don’t attend church and I don’t take my kids to church. I do try to show them how to politely deal with people every day and to give to charity when it’s possible, respecting other people’s property and privacy. Overall responsible human behavior.
Discussions like these are the reason I come here. Almost everyone has something insightful to contribute, even if I don’t always agree with it.
Just to clarify, I’m not pushing for the RokDrop parent of the year award. Just wanted to share my value system and explain it in regards to lack of religion.
I was raised in a Christian household and made to go to church, even though I disliked it at a very early age (maybe 7 or 8).
I can’t say for sure how much of an impact it had on my morals. I don’t know how I would have been raised if my mother wasn’t religious. My father isn’t very religious and he still taught me correct behaviors.
All I know for sure is where I am at this point. I feel like I can show my children how to properly live and contribute to society without taking them to church. If they decide they want to go (my mother takes them) I let them choose to believe. At their age I haven’t really let on that I don’t believe because I don’t want to sway them one way or another.
Even when I talk about news or politics with my son, I take a more conservative tone, but I make sure to tell him he can make his own conclusions about issues, and he doesn’t have to believe everything I believe.
Liz, I am sorry if I misinterpreted your intentions.
As for the counter argument I am looking for, it revolves around the concept Leon and I both mentioned…
“Religion has motivated a lot of (presumably) well-meaning people to rationalize and support (and engage in) some pretty crappy behavior.”
Skipping over the endlist examples in past and current Islam…
Currently, the Christian Right in America has some appalling ideas about how to treat their fellow man… with the strong support of militarism since WWI being just one issue.
(2003 survey showed 87% of Christians supported the invasion of Iraq while the national average was at 77%… not very Christian)
Like most aspects of Christianity, I cannot get a straight answer when discussing this… as there is no honest explanation why “turn the other cheek” gets preached but a gun-toting Christian is the first to holler about bombing those heathens… with, perhaps, minor regret if a wedding party gets taken out by accident. (“The Lord works in mysterious ways.”)
I have no bad experience with Christians… but since childhood, I have watched wholesale hypocrisy have been constantly bullshytted… which has left a bad taste in my mouth… so those who try to push it get categorized with used car dealers, global warmers peddlers, and Afro-centrists.
I certainly respect those who live their Christian values… though I am disappointed that some do it out of fear and guilt rather than an internalized sense of what is right and wrong.
Side note: the Jahova’s Witnesses I know/have known have been the most sincere and respectable Christians I have ever met.
But back to the point… religion is motivating a lot of people to engage in terrible behavior… or allowing them to rationalize terrible behavior, even to themselves.
…and if anybody disagrees with that statement, I am all ears.
No arguments here.
Religion and cults of personality kind of have the same feeling don’t they?
Any time followers are supposed to give glory or praise to one person or being without question, the whole thing is vulnerable to turning to oppression and persecution of outsiders or those who resist or question.
I have nothing against Jehovah’s witnesses….except that coming to my door thing. Really sucks when you’ve working the night shift and they come knocking in the morning. For some reason they don’t seem to think that ‘no solicitors’ sign applies to them.
(but they don’t want me to knock on their door in costume, just that one night of the year)
Anyway…what were we talking about? Oh, yes, I can’t say I disagree with you there, CH.
One issue I see with “Christians” is that most people who claim to be “Christian” are very much not Christians and do not follow the owners manual very closely. (In other words, those of us who have no problem with most Christians know “Christians” who aren’t very Christian at all.) Many aren’t even aware of what’s in the buy-bull so do not understand why some find it so objectionable. This wouldn’t really be a problem if religion weren’t so intertwined in our politics. The True Christians can claim a large majority of the electorate are Christian and therefore power. Then they can pass laws that affect all of us. Yet another reason to keep religion out of government. I guarantee you, if religion weren’t constantly being infused into government you would never hear a peep out of atheists and anti-theists.
People self identify with various cults for many reasons. Many of those reasons often have little to do with the actual religious tenets. Church’s wouldn’t bother having all the extracurricular activities if the religious aspect itself were so inspiring.
As for those aforementioned Lukewarm Christian Lights, please at least stop checking the damn “Christian” box on census forms and other documents. Check “other” or N/A or something.
I can imagine Islam isn’t much different regarding it not taking that many “radicals,” aka True Believers, to create problems.
Strong and functioning governments exist both because they keep religion at bay and despite religion. Currently, western governments are secular and strong. This hasn’t always been the case and we suffered for it.
Areas of the world that have non-functioning governments are often victims of religion.
I’m not picking on any particular religion here. It could easily happen here (and there is certainly no lack of effort to make it so). Living under Biblical law would be no better than living under Sharia law. Even some “Christians” (the light ones) see that, but they aren’t the problem to begin. They only contribute by claiming the title and going along with the True Believers.
So. Leon knows what it means to be a Christian? LOL..LOL..LOL
JackBSwift,
If you are Christian, your borderline-snide and uninformative response, instead of a kind and reasonable explanation, is EXACTLY something that turns off non-Christians.
A true Christian should answer criticism or skepticism with a measured and compassionate response… spreading the Word in a way fitting with the manner of Christ.
Of course, if you are not Christian, needling Leon in this way is amusing… so disregard.
Either way, I am interested in his answer… and yours…
…and anybody who wishes to join the discussion.
Yes. I was once until I figured out it was a scam. I still claimed “Christian” for a while afterword by convincing (deluding) myself that I came from a Christian culture, etc., etc. among other reasons. Much as I described. I don’t really see the humor in it, as you apparently do.
And I don’t necessarily subscribe to the theory that you have to try something to know it is not good. For example, I’ve never raped a little boy, but I think it is not a good thing to do and think it is wrong.
But only because of your inherent Christian values, Leon. Don’t you see?????
Yeah, I forgot that morality and ethics only came into being 2000 years ago and are unique to one religion, johnnyboy. 😛
That’s okay. There was only one perfect person, and well…. you know what happened to him.
“There was only one perfect person, and well…. you know what happened to him.”
Shot himself in a bunker and burned by the Russians?
Leon, I don’t really want to argue about this stuff, but I would like to address this portion of what you said, very briefly:
”Church’s wouldn’t bother having all the extracurricular activities if the religious aspect itself were so inspiring.”
There is a purpose to forming habits and ritual, and a benefit to community worship and fellowship. That’s a big reason groups of religious people have all of those activities, rituals, habits together (aside from the obvious…people with similar interests want to be around other people who feel the same. That’s not really so hard to understand, is it? Everyone does this…sometimes their called ‘clubs’, or ‘societies’ and such).
To put it in a secular context, ever have a girlfriend with a lot of fat friends who started getting fat? Ever been stuck in traffic or in a huge city with a lot of anger and felt the toxicity as you become angry too? By contrast, it works on the flip side as well….surround yourself with ‘happy, nice folk’ and suddenly you feel happier and nicer. There’s also a connection to anatomical memory. For instance, it has been proven that people who smile more, even if the smile is forced, start to feel happier. Exercise every morning, and you get into the habit of exercising every morning…and miss it when you don’t. Far from a “chore” you want to do it. And so forth. This is the purpose of religious ritual and community fellowship, in a nutshell, summarized simply. Continuous reaffirmation is strengthening to faith and spirituality, which are valuable to religious people.
Liz wins the Most Christian-Sounding Answer if the day.
…mild, patient, focused, sincere.
ChickenHead wins the Largest But Most Failed Attempt to Troll of the day.
…should have gone with my second choice “took Meca and spread the word of Allah”.
Everyone! thank’s for the input.
Yes, i was baiting Leon, after reading his many posts criticizing religion, Christianity in particular.
No amount of arguing will change his mind, and all of the posts seek drawing folks into an argument about Christianity are a debate actually.
The Jewish religious leaders in a like way sought to draw Jesus into such a debate.
Jesus, my hero defeated all of their efforts.
That is my only defense, read about Jesus and what he said, what he did, you may understand.
he was miraculous.
Read. read read!!!
I understand Jesus was miraculous…
…he even walked on water.
But Neil Armstrong walked on the moon!
THE FUKKING MOOOOON!
If it is about miraculousness, I know who I am giving my heart to.
Bonus: Mogen David changes more water into “wine” in an hour than Jesus did in a lifetime.
…and Tbone already gave his heart to MD 20/20, it seems.
Double Bonus: Osan leadership never beat any moneychangers… and they certainly were compassionate with prostitutes for many years…
…though they seem to be a den of backsliders and the moment. Perhaps larger white envelopes on the golf course will bring them back into the fold.
“Leon, I don’t really want to argue about this stuff, but I would like to address this portion of what you said,”
Of course you don’t dear Liz! I noticed you cherry picked the weakest point. I do not blame you.
“Yes, i was baiting Leon,”
Of course. But as I’ve said, I wouldn’t care what your (or any other) cult did (even though I find it very dangerous and damaging) if it was not pushed into everyone’s lives and especially government. Once in the government realm, it is most certainly fair game. Yes, I mostly focus of the failure that is Christianity because it is the particular flavor that most affects our society (especially the government). I have no love lost for any religion, especially the despicable horror that is Islam.
I am not anti-Christian, I’m anti-religion. Don’t get a big head just because your flavor isn’t the current champion of evil in the world. I has been more evil and violent in the past and could easily become so again (especially if the aforementioned government weren’t there to stop it from doing so).
Side note: I have a really nice Christmas tree but I’d never dream of setting it up at a court house. If a church wanted to borrow it to set up on their (tax free) property, I’d be happy to loan it. Before you say “A Ha!” I celebrate it as a secular holiday (as most Xian Lights do). Or, as many celebrate St. Patrick’s day or Valentines day. Few inside, let alone outside, the Catholic church pay much never mind to their religious meanings.
Leon: “I noticed you cherry picked the weakest point. I do not blame you.”
Well…I’m not sure what I could say about the bit about religion and politics. All people’s votes are based on their belief systems. That’s kind of inherent in the process. Even ‘trial by jury’ is a reflection of this (nullification in particular).