- For other uses, see Kamikaze (disambiguation).
Kamikaze (神風) is a Japanese word, usually translated as divine wind, believed to be a gift from the gods. The term is first known to have been used as the name of a pair or series of typhoons that are said to have saved Japan from two Mongol fleets under Kublai Khan that attacked Japan in 1274 and again in 1281. In popular Japanese myths at the time, the god Raijin was the god who turned the storms against the Mongols. Other variations say that the god Fujin or Ryūjin caused the destructive kamikaze. Recent research has found that other causes contributing to the invasion's failure included:
- Many of the ships were requisitioned river craft with flat bottoms and wobbly masts, and thus unstable in rough sea.
- Some of the ships had been poorly made, perhaps as the result of deliberate sabotage by Chinese shipbuilders who resented their Mongol conquerors.
The name given to the storm, kamikaze, was later used during World War II as nationalist propaganda for suicide attacks by Japanese pilots. This use of kamikaze has come to be the common meaning of the word in English.
