Kamikaze Pilots Believed They Would Meet Again at the Yasukuni Shrine
A kamikaze pilot would take off the day of his final mission, his forehead wrapped with a headband sporting the rising sun. This headband was made by a thousand women in Japan and served as part of the ceremony before departure.
The origin of Yasukuni Shrine is Shokonsha established at Kudan in Tokyo in the second year of the Meiji era (1869) “by the will of Emperor Meiji”. In 1879, it was renamed Yasukuni Shrine. This was to be the earthly resting place of those who died in the service of emperor and country. Currently, more than 2,466,000 divinities are enshrined here at Yasukuni Shrine.
These are souls of men who made ultimate sacrifice for their nation since 1853 during a national crisis such as the Boshin War, the Seinan War, the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, World War I, the Manchurian Incident, the China Incident and the Greater East Asian War (World War II). Kamikaze pilots believed they would be reunited at this shrine and their spirits would be at peace for eternity.
Today, the shrine memorializes all those who sacrificed their lives to protect their Emperor and country. Young pilots are depicted in gleaming oil paintings and bronze statues- but the shrine does not mention any context in which their lives were lost. Their images sit there among the others who gave their lives; peacefully silent for eternity.