1. In the footsteps of the Kamikaze pilots

Places I have visited in red

Working on the subject of war for a few years now, especially with my series on Pat Tillman the American soldier killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan and logically following the thread of my artistic research on super heroes, the image of the suicide bomber naturally surfaced in my work as one of the archetypes of the "warrior superhero"; demigod at the family and motherland service. The Kamikaze is the ideal model of the patriotic hero who justifies and makes acceptable, rewarding, the ultimate sacrifice of his own life for the good of the "common" cause.Who were these young Japanese pilots who, in 1944-45 were crashing on the American aircraft carriers with smiles on their faces? Were they so different from us, were they without any survival instinct or, as the young Islamic suicide bombers, were they indoctrinated? Was their volunteering for the suicidal attacks a reality or a myth?

I had to see it with my own eyes, put myself in the shoes of a Japanese Kamikaze pilot by walking the cracked surface of the abandoned runways of the Tokko* secret bases.In this blog I report my findings from my explorations in Japan from the end of February to the middle of May 2015. I am not a historian or a journalist and I do not read and understand Japanese. I used the services of interpreters whenever possible, but my writings rests essentially on my personal impressions, on the information gleaned on the spot, on the Internet, in the rare translated books available on the subject and by informing myself on the news and politics of Japan. It is a survey carried out through the eyes of an artist and explorer dilettante.This journey into Japanese history begins from Okinawa and ends in Tokyo (going from the south to the north or Japan.)

My wish was to follow the Sakura Jensen, the front of the flowering cherry trees that span during April. It is a privileged moment when Japan commemorates the souls of fallen soldiers. The goal was to reach the south of the island of Kyushu, the nerve center of the Kamikaze episode, at the height of the flowering.

* Special Attack Corp                                                                            GO TO NEXT PAGE