The planners of both the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJA) and Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) preferred to use obsolescent or near-obsolescent planes for Tokko (special attack) missions. For example, the predominant Tokko IJA aircraft used during the Okinawan campaign were the Ki-27 (150) and the Ki-43 (120), both aircraft types that were now obsolete but these were aircraft the IJA still possessed large stocks of. The IJN preferred older models of the A6M and the D3A and both services sometimes employed trainers as Tokko aircraft. The IJA was more willing than its naval counterpart to assign its top of the line aircraft, the Ki-84, for Tokko missions, but the IJN also assigned some of its latest bombers, the D4Y and P1Y, for suicide missions. Although the chaos of the final months of the war makes it difficult to parse out what designs were cost-cutting expedients or genuine attempts to make aircraft more suitable for Tokko missions, there were attempts by Japanese manufacturers to incorporate more nonstrategic materials in future aircraft models.

As suicide tactics became more established in Japanese doctrine, there were some Japanese engineers that designed purpose-built suicide craft. The Japanese designers sought to incorporate two major features in these designs: they had to carry a large explosive, and had to be constructed out of non-strategic materials. The IJA design, the Ki-115 Tsurugi (Sword) used rudimentary instruments and flight controls as well as an engine that was obsolete. The IJN's MXY7 Ohka flying bomb used extensive wooden construction to save on resources. These cost-cutting measures undercut the effectiveness of both these purpose-built suicide weapons. The K-115 was such a poorly designed aircraft that it killed many pilots during training and orientation flights. Unlike the Ki-115, the Ohka was deployed against the US forces, but it was a failure in combat. The Ohka was saddled with a poor concept of relying upon a vulnerable mothership to reach the outer edges of the US task force, something that American CAP could easily handle. The few Ohkas that launched often missed their target as the flying bomb was difficult to steer. Although the IJN produced training Ohkas, the one-shot nature of suicide attacks meant that training for these missions took a low priority.