A special ceremony before going to combat usually took place. Pilots drank sake and ate a ball of rice. They were given medals, and a katana sword. They put on a headband with the rising sun, and a "sennibari", a ""belt of a thousand stitches"" made by a thousand women, who made one stitch each. Many times, they took prayers written by their families with them. According to legend, young pilots on "kamikaze" missions many times flew southwest from Japan over the 922-metre (~3000 ft) Mount Kaimon. Suicide mission pilots looked over their shoulders to see this, and said farewell to their country. Another legend says that "kamikaze" pilots dropped flowers from the air, as they departed on their final missions. Some places, like the hills near Kikajima airport, are said to have beds of cornflower that bloom in early May from those days.