In June 1934, Lt. Okamura was flight testing the second prototype of two Mitsubishi 1MF10 Experimental 7-Shi carrier fighters when it entered an irrecoverable flat spin.

[3] Okamura had expressed his desire to lead a volunteer group of suicide attacks some four months before Admiral Takijiro Ohnishi, commander of the Japanese naval air forces in the Philippines, presented the idea to his staff.

Tokyo established a new air corps charged with the mission of operating the Marudai weapons, and by the close of November, pilot training was well on its way.

The selection was unnecessary, beyond the critical choices made by Okamura; volunteers poured in by the thousands for the new operation, despite the 'special nature' of their future missions.

[7] His brother-in-law was fellow IJN officer and aviator Takashige Egusa, who was noted for being the Air Group Commander of aircraft carrier Soryu during the Pearl Harbor attack through the ship's loss at the Battle of Midway.