Kamikaze / Divine Winds
The modern understanding of Japanese kamikaze pilots during WWII is a metaphor referencing the legend of the “Divine Winds” that twice saved Japan from Mongolian conquest in the late 13th century.
Two massive typhoon events destroyed the Mongolian navy. According to legend, Raijin — the Shinto god of lightning, thunder, and storms, also known as “kaminari” (combining “spirit” and “thunder”) — created the divine winds to protect Japan. The WWII pilots were not simply attacking the enemy. They were acting out a mythological script written seven centuries earlier.
Fūjin
The Japanese Shinto god of wind — often depicted with a bag of winds on his back, releasing gusts across the sky. The aeromythological twin of Aeolus, the Greek wind-keeper whose bag of winds derailed Odysseus’ voyage home.
The Myth-Making of Military Action
The kamikaze is one of the most striking examples of aeromythology in active operation, a military strategy simultaneously functioning as religious ritual, cultural re-enactment, and myth. Pilots wore cherry blossoms on their flight suits to symbolize fleeting beauty and sacrifice. The myth was not applied afterward; it was lived in real time.