The Kamikaze

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The kamikaze have a position in war memories and popular culture that far outweighs their military contribution to the Second World War. As I argued in my paper ‘Kamikaze museums and contents tourism’ in the Journal of War & Culture Studies (alas, not open access), the kamikaze have become popular culture icons who trigger significant tourism to sites mainly in Kyushu.

There is endless material online about the kamikaze. However, Kamikaze Images has a lot of interesting material gathered in one place. The main tourist site commemorating the kamikaze is the Chiran Peace Museum. Here is an interview with one of the leading researchers on the kamikaze, M.G. Sheftall, which covers many of the issues relating to research and representation of the kamikaze:

“Japan’s Kamikaze Suicide Pilots Exhibit at the USS Missouri in Honolulu: an interview with M.G. Sheftall”

See also Chapter 18 in War as Entertainment and Contents Tourism in Japan.

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