TV tonight: Japan’s kamikaze pilots and why they were impelled to sacrifice themselves

Former pilots and eye witnesses discuss Japan’s special attack units. Plus, Ella Al-Shamahi gives a lesson on Neanderthal DNA. Here’s what to watch this evening9pm, BBC FourIt is still absolutely shocking to see footage of the kamikaze attacks that Japan operated for 10 months at the end of the second world war. Nearly 4,000 Japanese pilots died this way and 7,000 allied military personnel were killed. Why did they push this strategy? And why were people so willing to do it? Takayuki Oshima’s monumental film uses 15 years of research and interviews with witnesses, family members and former pilots to explore this massive system of suicide attack. Hollie Richardson Continue reading...

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