The problem is they didn't have guts to do it. They were forced to do it, with refusal being totally unacceptable - the pilot, if he refuses, would not only face court-marshall and be charged with high treason and disloyalty to the Empire, but his family would also suffer.
So look at it this way;
A society based on checks, balances and 'shame', on the verge of losing the war.
The world around him is going mad and falling apart, some people are going berserk, others are sobbing and crying. The war is lost, but the military refuses to surrender.
As a pilot, everything is so frustrating and hopeless, everyone knows he will probably die on the job, Depression is the norm, many feel mentally ill and suicidal. Every letter sent to his family is censored, and he is not allowed to talk about the truth of the kamikaze.
So, a frustrated, hopeless, deeply depressed pilot waits "the time", as convicts in the death row would. There are no 'pardons' in this 'prison', and everyone around you expects you to die.
If you refuse, you will dishonor your family and your name, sent to be courtmarshalled and put to death sentence anyway. Besides, your family would be branded as 'family of the traitor', shamed in the town/city they lived, mocked, cursed, and shunned from the society.
So you're gonna die anyway. There's no getting out of this death spiral. Might as well just barge in, and hope at least your family will be protected and be highly looked upon, thanks to your death.
It's sad, grim, and I find no holiness in any of it.
What makes it worse, is that the Imperial military conscripted kids from their colonies under military rule.
Quite a few kamikaze pilots were actually Koreans, who in this case, were dragged out from their homes, taught flimsy two-bit flight lessons, and sent to die. If they would think otherwise, these Koreans would be shot down by their 'wardens' in the air.
It wasn't even their war they were fighting. They were sent to die for a country which destroyed their own country.
