Kamikazi (Kamikaze in Japanese)             

You may recall a little historical obscurity called "World War II". One of the participants in that was a country called "Japan." They had a secret weapon to help turn the tides when the battle was going poorly, namely kamikaze attacks — the art of flying an airplane directly into the enemy, usually a naval vessel.

The history of kamikaze goes back to the 13th century, when legend has it that Kublai Khan's invading fleet was turned away from Japan by a typhoon sent from the gods (kamikaze translates as "divine wind"). Long thought to be an apocryphal story, recent archaeological excavations have proven the tale true (the fleet part, not the gods part), with the discovery of underwater remains from Khan's fleet. 

The spirit needed in a kamikaze pilot can be traced back to the Samurai Warrior; protectors of the land owning daimyo class of traditional Japan. The definition of a Samurai is "one who is a servant". The Samurai class had first rate power, and occupied five to ten percent of the Japanese population. The Samurai were second in social status only to the nobles and daimyo, whom were defended by the Samurai . The Samurai lived by a demanding doctrine called the Bushido Code. The Bushido Code’s central principle was absolute respect to the emperor, the daimyo, Japan, and thy self. A related topic is "seppuku", or ritual suicide, which the Samurai commonly practiced from the sixth century AD until a different type of military was set up in Japan at the end of the traditional era. The Samurai would practice "seppuku" to avoid capture by enemy forces, for honour’s sake, and to free the soul.

After many Kamikazi attacks Japan began feel the effects of what some called pointless attacks. In conclusion, the kamikaze corps were given little chance to help win the war, because by the time of the first mission it was almost assured that Japan would be defeated. Defeat was inescapable, however the kamikazes stood not for anything tangible, but some sort of divine honour, duty, spirit, and thus beauty.