As a final step before the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, Allied forces invaded Okinawa on 1 April 1945. In March, when briefing Emperor Hirohito on Japan's response to the expected Okinawan invasion, Japanese military leaders explained that the Imperial Japanese Army was planning extensive air attacks, including the use of "kamikaze". The emperor then reportedly asked, "But what about the Navy? What are they doing to assist in defending Okinawa? Have we no more ships?" Now feeling pressured by the emperor to also mount some kind of attack, Japanese Navy commanders conceived a "kamikaze"-type mission for their remaining operational large ships, which included the battleship "Yamato".