A short-sleeved T-shirt with a high-quality full-color print featuring an aviation motif of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero and Japanese inscriptions.
- material: 100% cotton, grammature: 200 g/m2.
The Japanese fighter aircraft Zero, used by kamikaze pilots who deliberately headed toward destruction, was manufactured by Mitsubishi. Due to its geographic position, Japan had from the very beginning designed aircraft with a long range suitable for combat over the oceans. The A6M Zero was one the main opponents of the Allied forces, despite its weak armor and the fact that it had become outdated compared to other aircraft by the end of the war. The greatest danger, however, came from the determined pilots in the cockpits, who accepted that they would not return to base. In aircraft packed with explosives, they would dive straight into Allied ships.
The word kamikaze translates as “divine wind.” It refers to a historical event from the 13th century, when a typhoon saved Japan from a Mongol naval invasion. Effective propaganda, a glass of alcohol, and a hachimaki headband tied across the forehead in the style of samurai was the ritual that took place before takeoff. After that, the aircraft in the hands of the suicide pilots became guided missiles. This dubious honor was initially given to experienced pilots, which was not strategically advantageous. They were soon replaced by less capable pilots, who were considered “less of a loss.”
Kamikaze aircraft caused significant damage to Allied warships, but they also psychologically tormented American soldiers, for which this insane method of warfare was incomprehensible. The origin of the kamikaze strategy lay in the declining quality of Japanese pilots and the lower level of their combat technology. Suicide attacks thus became the only way to inflict substantial harm on the enemy.
