Kamikaze pilots were Japanese army and navy pilots who carried out suicide attacks against American planes and navy ships during World War. Their method was to pack planes with extra bombs or gasoline tanks. The first planned attacks took place beginning in October, 1944.
It has been theorized that there are a few elements in Japanese society that predisposed soldiers to volunteer for suicide missions, including the esteem in which honor (even above life) is held, as well as the divine role of the Emperor.
Also See: Suicide Terrorism: Definitions, Theories, Groups
There were elaborate preparations for missions: "They prepared by holding ceremonials, writing farewell poems, and receiving a "thousand stitch belt" — cloth into which 1,000 women had sewn one stitch as a symbolic uniting with the pilot. Then, in planes wrapped around 550 pound bombs, they would fly off to die."