I KAMIKAZE 1944-1945

In October 1944, when Japan was close to losing the war, it established the 'special attack corps': pilots were trained to launch themselves against American ships aboard planes armed with bombs. Aware of the importance of correspondence for the morale of its fighters, the Imperial Army encouraged them to write personalized farewell letters with calligraphic characters, sometimes traced with their own blood. After a historical overview, Christian Kessler, a professor at Musashi University in Tokyo, presents about a hundred unpublished letters, poems, and testaments of suicide pilots: documents intended for families and written by young men often educated shortly before leaving for their final mission. Accompanied by locks of hair or nails as relics, these writings make up a unique and shocking collection.