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The word for 'suicide bombing via crashing your plane into something'(which
most people will use in a broader sense that drops the plane from the
equation) as seen done by the Japanese during WWII is 神風, who's kanji
translates to 'Divine/God's wind'.

Could someone explain the etymology of this to me. What exactly does 'Divine
wind' refer to? How was it meant to help justify this suicide mission to the
men who did it? And is it connected to the State-Shinto they had at the time?
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2017-02-10T22:40:17.173
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meaning etymology
How is suicide bombing justified by a divine breeze?
There were [two typhoons that saved
Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze_\(typhoon\)) from mongol
invasions under Kublai Khan in the 13th century, and were thus named "divine
wind" (神風). The pilots in WWII were supposed to be "divine wind", similar to
the typhoon, saving Japan from other invading enemies.
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2017-02-10T23:18:22.307
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Technically, the word for "suicide attack" is
[特攻｛とっこう｝](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E7%89%B9%E6%94%BB). It is derived
from 特別攻撃隊 {とくべつこうげきたい}(special attack unit), which is often shortened to
特攻隊｛とっこうたい｝.

神風｛かみかぜ｝ is a reference to the typhoons that prevented two Mongolian invasions
of Japan. They were thought to be gifts from the gods, defending Japan from
its invaders. Kamikaze simply takes from that, painting a picture that the
attacks would turn the tides of battle and bring victory to Japan. It's not
uncommon for a country to use mythological terms for military purposes.

And it doesn't have anything to do with the State-Shinto, as far as I know.
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2017-02-10T23:21:20.230
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First of all, 神風 doesn't mean suicide attack in Japanese unless it's used as a
re_imported word. American started to call it "kamikaze" because **one of the
units** that participated in the operation was called "Shinpu", whose kanji
can also be read as "kamikaze".
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