The book states that on the night of august 1415, 1945, the evening before. Of these four aircraft, only two are known by serial number. Faced with the prospects of a desolate rural life, he enlisted in the imperial japanese navy at sixteen. A couple of months ago a friend loaned me a magazine with an article about modern fighter pilots compared to wwii pilots. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots is a 1985 book by henry sakaida dealing with the wartime history of saburo sakai and other imperial. Saburo sakai is japans greatest fighter pilot to survive world war ii, and his powerful memoir has proven to be one of the most popular and enduring books ever written on the pacific war. Sakai, born in 1916, hoped to escape the poverty of life in his rural village by enlisting in the imperial japanese navy at age 16.
Legendary zero pilot saburo sakai was japans most recognized ace, but few knew the man. This book has been written by martin caidin from saburo sakai s own memoirs and journalist fred saitos interviews with the fighter pilot. The forward explains how everyone was first exposed to the japanese side of world war ii with the book samurai. Samurai is another book you wont be able to put down. Saburo sakai, a japanese fighter pilot in world war ii who said he shot down 64 allied planes, including one of each type the united states flew. He passed away at of a heart attack at age 84 while attending a u. The wildcat was clinging grimly to the tail of a zero, its tracers chewing up the wings and tail. Shot in the head, he had to manage to fly his zero fighter plane, back to his base at rabaul. Saburo sakai zero fighter pilots by henry sakaida 1985 1st sc. In great detail, the book describes how sakai shot down 3 of them, and with. Sakais account of the rise and fall of japanese naval aviation has not lost any of its riveting impact in the nearly 60 years since. The mustangs number one with me now, and im afraid the zeros number two. Dogfight between saburo sakai and james southerland august 7, 1942 excert from samurai. I first read this book back around 1961 and still remembered some of the more interesting passages causing me to buy a copy today and reread this book.
Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots was published by. Hiroshi fujioka, taro shigaki, akihiko hirata, takeo chii, tetsuro tanba zero fighter, or zero pilot, original japanese title zora no samurai samurai of the sky, which was based on a memoir book written by a japanese fighter pilot lt. On june 9th, 1942, sakai engaged the american b26 bomber heckling hare. Luckily for sakai, he was not assigned to a naval carrier. This is the first book of aviation author, henry sakaida who creates a work that is both well researched and presented. Martin caidin was an american author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation. Also saburo sakai kusen kiroku saburo sakais combat records. It describes the life and career of saburo sakai, the japanese combat aviator who fought against american fighter pilots in the pacific theater of world war ii, surviving the war with 64 kills as one of japans leading flying aces. Saburo sakai is one of those larger than life figures of wwii.
The story of saburo sakai provides for the first time an intimate look into the other side. Saburo sakai was born into an impoverished samurai family in 1916. He was taught to live by the code of bushido, which he defined in. It was published by champlin fighter museum press references. Sabukuo sakai got seriously wounded over the airbattle of guadalcanal. Saburo sakai and his coauthor martin caidin paint a vivid and enthralling picture of the japanese side of world war ii. Saburo sakai was born august 16th 1916 in the farming village of nishiyoka in the saga prefecture on kyushu island, japan. First off, let me say that this is one of the grand combat memoirs of world war iibut you knew that, right. The movie kept very close to the book, and stuck to the facts.
Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots is a 1985 book by henry sakaida dealing with the wartime history of saburo sakai and other imperial japanese navy air service pilots who flew the mitsubishi a6m zero. He came from a family descended from a long line of samurai, japans ancient warrior class. It will consist of 5 different skill games such as crosswords. Saburo sakai books list of books by author saburo sakai. First published in english in 1957, it gave americans new perspectives on the air war and on the japanese pilots who, until then, had been perceived in the united states as mere caricatures. The mustangs number one with me now, and im afraid the zero s number two.
Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots is a book by henry sakaida dealing with the wartime history of saburo sakai and other imperial japanese navy air service pilots who flew the mitsubishi. The main authors credit for the book should be saburo sakai, though, not martin caiden and it needs a huge and i do mean huge number of scanning errors correcting in the text. Pacific wrecks dogfight between saburo sakai and james. Sakai had 28 aerial victories including shared by official japanese records, while his autobiography samurai. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots as want to read. Its the japanese version of the first and last and the reader follows sakais career from the early days of japanese victory to the wars conclusion. If you havent already done so, go ahead and buy it. This book has been written by martin caidin from saburo sakais own memoirs and journalist fred saitos interviews with the fighter pilot.
Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots 9780912173054. Later, sakai was selected to fly the mitsubishi a6m2 zero fighter in combat. Sublieutenant was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace gekitsuio, of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii. Zero fighter aka samurai of the sky 1976 remastered. A man of many stories, talents, and compassion, saburo sakai was one of. Four different a6m2 zeros are alleged to have been flown by saburo sakai and documented by henry sakaida in his biography of sakai, winged samurai. The book is an oversized paperback, roughly 11 x 8, and has a wonderful painting on the cover of sakai and his zero rocketing upwards after he was horribly wounded attacking a dauntless formation over tulagi in august of 1942. Illustrated edition by martin caiden, saburo sakai. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter aces by henry sakaida 1985, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. The unforgettable saga of japans greatest fighter pilot by saburo sakai, martin caidin, fred saito and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Very interesting as it shows the other side of the war in the pacific. According to sakaida, sakai san has flown a6m2 model 21s carrying tainan ku tail codes as follows. Home japan winged samurai rethinking the sakai myths henry sakaida was a californian of japanese ancestry who set out to study the zero pilots with the help of his japanesespeaking father, tadashi.
Caidin was an airplane pilot as well, and bought and restored a 1936 junkers ju 52 airplane. Saburo sakais 500 mile trek back to rabual from guadacanal in his crippled zero is a testimony to the man and to the nature of war. Such discrepancies are common, and pilots official scores are often lower. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots was published by barrett tillman and the champlin fighter museum press in 1985. Theres a damn good reason why saburo sakai was the most. Legendary zero pilot saburo sakai was japans most recognized ace, but few knew the man behind the legend. Sublieutenant saburo sakai was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace gekitsuio, of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii.
Unfortunately it also has a chip on its authors shoulders. From zero to hero saburo sakaithe samurai of the skies. This book tells the highly abridged version of sakais wartime service by author. Sakai was born into a family with immediate affiliation to samurai and their warrior legacies and whose ancestors themselves samurai had taken part in the japanese invasions of korea between 1592 to 1598, but who were later forced to take up a livelihood of farming following haihanchiken in 1871.
Winged samurai is one of my favorite books in my small but growing library of all things jnaf. Although he successfully crippled it by taking out its right engine, the plane managed to escape into the clouds, and he could not find it to finish it off. Saburo sakai is probably japans bestknown pilot of world war ii, with the possible exception of captain mitsuo fuchida of pearl harbor infamy. The samurai illustrated story of greatest zero pilot sakai saburo book. He was taught to live by the code of bushido, which he defined in his book, samurai. A man of many stories, talents, and compassion, saburo sakai was one of a kind and will always be known as the sky samurai. The book also claims to be an illustrated edition but there appear to be no photographs or other illustrations present. Samurai by saburo sakai martin caidin fred saito abebooks. On august 7, 1942, badly wounded japanese ace saburo sakai disengages from his american adversaries and embarks on an epic 640mile flight back to his base at rabaul. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots wikipedia. Legendary zero pilot saburo sakai was japans most recognized ace, but few knew the man behind the legend saburo sakai is probably japans. Samurai sakai, saburo, caiden, martin, with caidin. A man of samurai roots himself, his weapon was zero and his legacy nothing less than extraordinary. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read samurai.
The airbattles are suspensefull and detailed, as good as in the movie midway, but with a much smaller budged. The specialties in samurai as told by saburo sakai himself are the way he pictured his exciting dogfights in the beginning of the war, his emotional feelings, especially in the last part of the book, wherein sakai described very thoroughly his feelings of fright after encountering enemy pilots with better planes than his zero, his fright of. Sakai came from a family descended from samurai, japans ancient warrior class. One feels both the deep dedication of sakai to the samurai spirit and to his sense of duty, as well as his keen awareness of the folly of the war. Saburo sakai was born on 25 august 1916 in saga in japan. Saburo sakai was born august 26th 1916 in the farming village of nishiyoka in the saga prefecture on kyushu island, japan. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots by henry sakaida book samurai. It describes the life and career of saburo sakai, the japanese combat aviator who fought against american fighter pilots in the pacific theater of world war ii, surviving the war with 64. Sakai came to prominence in 1957 when his memoir, samurai. Sakais a6m2 zero, tail code v173, preserved at the australian war memorial in canberra.
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