Father of the Kamikaze (1974)

Father of the Kamikaze 1974 / あゝ決戦航空隊 1974 / A kessen kokutai

The film is based on a real life Japanese Vice Admiral named Onishi who first came up with the plan to send pilots on a suicide mission to dive bomb Pearl Harbor, hoping to force the hand of the United States and hopefully influence them decide to negotiate. As history shows, his decision ended up having disastrous consequences for all of Japan. Onishi, who would become known as the ‟Father of Kamikaze‟ regretted his decision deeply and ended up taking his own life to atone for it. This war epic, which was an official selection at the 1974 Geijyutsusai Arts Festival, documents the events surrounding the development of his strategy to his eventual suicide.