In 2003, Frank Cass Publishers released a book called “Islamikaze: Manifestations of Islamic Martyrology” by Raphael Israeli. The basic idea of the name “Islamikaze,” of course, was to draw a parallel between Muslim suicide bombers and the Japanese Kamikaze of World War II. The book is almost 500 pages long, and I read it in its entirety late last year. The vast majority of the book actually had very little to do with the Kamikaze comparison, but was rather a very longwinded presentation of the most extreme statements of radical Muslims. The basic point of the book can be summed up as the following: Islamic radicals are fanatics who cannot be reasoned with or bargained with, have no justification for their acts, and must be utterly destroyed. The book went on in this vein for hundreds of pages.

Be this as it may, the paragraph in which the author proposed the term “Islamikaze” reads as follows:

“Typologically, then, the Muslim fundamentalist self-immolating assassins—who have nothing suicidal about them nor resemble the hara-kiri of either the imposed or voluntary type—come closest to the kamikaze in organization, ideology, execution of their task, posthumous glory, and historical background of self-effacing loyalty, murderous fanaticism (samurai and fida’i, kamikaze and shahid) and culture of shame. It is therefore proposed to adopt the appellation of Islamikaze to describe them, combining their inner Islamic motivation and vocation with the other outward attributes of their fellow kamikaze. In fact, a report from an Afghan camp where the Islamikaze were being trained in the mid-1990s, and which has come to be known as the “Kamikaze Barracks,” sported a slogan at its main entrance, made of whitewashed pebble and stone, which stated ‘Jihad – Istishhad – Paradise – Islamic Kamikaze – Human Bombs,’ meaning: ‘The Holy War of Islam – Death in Martyrdom – The Promised Hereafter – By Means of Muslim Kamikaze – who are Human Bombs.’ This is, in essence, the entire story.” (Raphael Israeli, “Islamikaze,” p. 78)

Whatever one may think of Raphael Israeli’s book, the notion that some kind of comparison exists between Islamic suicide bombers and the Kamikaze continues to hang around. In fact, what prompted me to bring up this subject at this particular time is a recent article by Shingo Ito of AFP-Jiji that has now interviewed actual Kamikaze pilots and asked them what they themselves think of this comparison. This article has been picked up by media outlets in both Japan and the Arab world:

Are Missions of Japanese Kamikaze and Suicide Bombers Similar?

Japan's wartime kamikaze resent comparison with modern suicide bombers because of difference in mission.

By Shingo Ito - KANOYA, Japan

Sixty years after their cause was defeated, the veterans of Japan's once-dreaded kamikaze squads understand the mindset that would lead men to kill themselves on the London transport system solely to take more lives.

But while they also possessed a religious zeal in taking on the West, the former kamikaze find it offensive to equate their military missions with suicide bombings against civilians by modern-day Islamic militants.

Hiroshi Shinjo barely lived to tell his tale. He was set to be another of the thousands of kamikaze pilots trained to die crashing into US ships, but before his turn could come Emperor Hirohito announced surrender on August 15, 1945.

"I feel insulted to hear our missions described as the same as Islam's suicide bombings," said the 83-year-old veteran.

"We did this in wartime battle, samurai against samurai, and what they are doing are indiscriminate attacks aimed at killing innocent people," he said, referring to the code-bound samurai knights of medieval Japan.

"But mentally speaking, kamikaze missions could be similar" to suicide bombings, he added cautiously.

"I don't think I cared about my life. We thought we wanted to level a blow by crashing into the enemy's ships in order to save our nation," he said.

"Those terrorists were brainwashed and ordered to lose their lives in a fanatic act," he said of suicide bombers.

But he conceded: "On the other hand, some people may argue that the Japanese navy and army also acted abnormally, ignoring life."

'Attacks will never bring any happiness to terrorist groups'

Kamikaze, which translates as "divine wind," is the word used in the West to describe the suicidal World War II pilots but in Japan they were known simply as the "tokkotai" or "special attack unit."

Like many Islamic suicide bombers today, kamikaze pilots were often educated but politically driven young men and at the time were treated as heroes. They were ritually honoured before their sacrifices which would make front-page news.

But in a possible sign of how the Islamic world could regard suicide bombers were the practice to end, the kamikaze today have a mixed legacy in Japan.

While some nationalists sentimentalize kamikaze as men who died for Japan, largely the nation has chosen to forget them. After the war, surviving kamikaze pilots were criticized as inhumane. Most of them lead quiet lives without speaking in public of their past, and their experience is little taught in schools.

Shigeyoshi Hamazono, who engaged in air combat in the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Taiwan and Japan, is one of a handful of former kamikaze now trying to retell the story.

Unlike in most of Japan, memories of the kamikaze remain vivid at the Kanoya Air Base Museum in this southwestern Japanese city which displays the pilots' portraits, farewell notes and a Zero fighter used in the missions that sowed terror in US forces.

"For those who carried out the attacks in London or Iraq, there must be their own reasons such as reacting to contempt, an offense or pressure," said Hamazono, a former navy pilot of the Kamikaze Special Attack Force.

"But no one has a right to kill innocent people, especially children," said the 81-year-old veteran, whose lethal mission ended incomplete after his Zero fighter was damaged in a dog-fight just before the end of World War II.

"Terrorist attacks will never bring any happiness to terrorist groups in the end," Hamazono warned in low voice.

The kamikaze are often cited as an example of suicide attacks not being solely the domain of Muslim militants, who have carried out dramatic strikes such as the September 11, 2001 hijackings in the United States and the July 7 subway and bus bombings in London.

The most prolific single group of suicide bombers is in fact the predominantly Hindu Tamil Tigers, who have sent 241 "Black Tigers" since 1987 in their campaign for a separate state in Sri Lanka.

"Some people in other countries say tokkotai is the same as the suicide bombings, but the two are totally different," Hamazono said firmly.

"Our missions ended as soon as the war ended, but there is no end in terrorism," he said.

"And we did not want any money or status. We just wanted to protect our land, blue mountains and beautiful rivers" from US attack, he said.

Did they really want to die?

The suicide diving squad was a late addition to the Japanese war effort. In October 1944, with the tide of war turning against Tokyo and the imperial navy's air fleet badly outnumbered in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, Japan decided to turn its planes into bombs.

By the end of the war, nearly 4,000 pilots would kill themselves trying to crash fighter planes onto US ships. While they stoked fear in the hearts of many US troops, most kamikaze were shot down before they could reach their targets.

Chitoshi Sato, 78, a former inflight operator for the kamikaze, said the Japanese missions and modern suicide bombings "are different stories because our target was those who had weapons."

Sato, however, said specially developed rocket-bombers, the toughest mission of the kamikaze force, were "abnormal."

In the mission code-named "Cherry Blossom," mother aircraft would release planes with 600 kilograms (1,323 pounds) of explosives, steered by one pilot down onto US ships.

The six-meter (20-foot) aircrafts, powered by a rocket lasting only 27 seconds, were nicknamed "stupid bombers" by the Allies as the pilots' deaths were guaranteed and they rarely hit their targets.

Despite the perceived glory at the time, historians in retrospect question whether all kamikaze were so enthusiastic to die.

"Fundamentally speaking, I can say recent suicide bombings should be seen as a different form of attacks from kamikaze missions," said Masayasu Hosaka, an expert of Japan's war history who has written about the kamikaze.

"In suicide bombings, the terrorists are acting based on self-initiative, which means the ultimate decisions on their actions is in their hands," Hosaka said.

"But kamikaze pilots did it for the sake of the military order," he said. "Reading their farewell notes and listening to survivors, I can say many of the pilots did not want to do it and questioned the meaning of the attacks."