Saburo sakai was born on 25 august 1916, in saga, japan. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your. Also saburo sakai kusen kiroku saburo sakais combat records. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Interview with saburo sakai project news read only war. Sublieutenant saburo sakai was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii and was the highest surviving ace of the ijn. Oozora no samurai samurai in the sky, which is much longer and more detailed. 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. Saburo sakai samurai poster by basilbarfly redbubble. Saburo sakai became famous due to the publication of his memoir ozora no samurai, samurai of the big sky in postwar japan. The sakai clan, sakaishi was a japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the nitta branch of the minamoto clan, who were in turn descendants of emperor seiwa. A 1976 movie, ozora no samurai is also an adaptation of sakais story.
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. Attributed with 64 victories marketing hype created to sell books, sakai actually scored at least 7 and possibly around 10 victories in his career. A couple of months ago a friend loaned me a magazine with an article about modern fighter pilots compared to wwii pilots. The rise of japanese naval air power, by mark pattie. Does anyone know what he was talking about or if the. Sublieutenant saburo sakai, sakai saburo, 25 august 1916 22 september 2000 was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace gekitsuio, of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii. At the time, the port of sakai was open to foreign. Through most of his flying career he flew the famous mitsubishi zero in its various models. On sunday, august 11th 1998, i had the unique pleasure of being invited to the tokyo home of mr. Saburo sakai, the pilot i admire the most, signed my book. Saburo sakai simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Interview with saburo sakai project news read only. He fought at sekigahara and the osaka castle campaigns and in 1619 received a 100,000koku fief at takata in echigo province.
Saburo sakai books list of books by author saburo sakai. Warrant officer saburo sakai is the most famous japanese pilot and was one of the few high scorers to survive the war. Includes more than 12 photographs of the author and his exploits. He survived the war, and became a famous figure for his criticism of. Aviation art poster samurai saburo sakai saburo sakaithe battle of guadalcanal sublieutenant saburo sakai sakai saburo. He was the 4th best japanese pilot by number of enemy aircraft he shot down.
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. He came from a family descended from a long line of samurai, japans ancient warrior class. Tetsuzo iwamoto, 80, and petty officer 1st class shoichi sugita, 70. His squadron mate hiroyoshi nishizawa drove him to a surgeon. Faced with the prospects of a desolate rural life, he enlisted in the imperial japanese navy at sixteen. Legendary zero pilot saburo sakai was japans most recognized ace, but few knew the man behind the legend saburo sakai is probably japans 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, new britain. Saburo sakai became a living legend in japan during world war ii. Sep 22, 2000 media in category saburo sakai the following 9 files are in this category, out of 9 total. Saburo sakai s 500 mile trek back to rabual from guadacanal in his crippled zero is a testimony to the man and to the nature of war. He was born sakai tadanao, the second son of sakai tadazumi, the first sakai clan lord of himeji han.
Saburo sakai archive luftwaffe and allied air forces. Samurai by fred saito,martin caidin,saburo sakai and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Taught to live by the code of bushido hagakure the code of the samurai, which meant serving the lords of saga and living your. The firstperson story of japans greatest flying ace in world war ii. Dec 10, 2010 saburo sakai, the pilot i admire the most, signed my book. Saburo sakai was born into an impoverished samurai family in 1916. Saburo sakai meets the sbd gunner who wounded him at. 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. We personally assess every books quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures.
Saburo sakai is japans greatest fighter pilot to survive world war ii, and his powerful memoir. Pacific wrecks dogfight between saburo sakai and james. Please read our short guide how to send a book to kindle. He interviewed saburo sakai three times between 1970 and 1991. Saburo sakai was born in saga, on the island of kyushu, in 1916 to a family that had turned to farming as changing economic and social conditions led to the passing of the warrior class. Oct 08, 2000 saburo sakai was born in saga, on the island of kyushu, in 1916 to a family that had turned to farming as changing economic and social conditions led to the passing of the warrior class.
Over the course of three hours, he and i discussed a number of topics, almost all related to his exploits in the war, but to some broader issues as well. 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 had 28 aerial victories including shared by official japanese records, while his autobiography samurai. After having fought government censorship for more than three decades, ienaga triumphed in a highprofile court case in 1997 when the. Pilots everywhere spoke in awe of his incredible exploits in the air. According to japanese naval fighter aces by hata, izawa and shores, official records show that sakai had claimed 28 victories by the time he was wounded in action on 7 august. Saburo sakai was born august 16th 1916 in the farming village of nishiyoka in the saga prefecture on kyushu island, japan. By 1937 he had graduated at the top of this his enlisted pilottraining class, and he quickly saw combat in china. Hardcover edition, out of print, available from re. Of all japans aces, saburo sakai is the only pilot who never lost a wingman in combat. This shopping feature will continue to load items when the enter key is pressed. Written by martin caidin from saburo sakai s own memoirs and journalist fred saitos extensive interviews with the fighter pilot, samauir.
Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots wikipedia. He had, by his accounting 3,700 hours flying time, with at least 1,500 hours of that in zeros. First off, let me say that this is one of the grand combat memoirs of world war iibut you knew that, right. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. Saburo sakai and his coauthor martin caidin paint a vivid and enthralling picture of the japanese side of world war ii. Clipping is a handy way to collect important slides you want to go back to later. Posted from berlin, december 10, 2010 links to the books and authors. A pretty interesting read if you enjoy history from that era. Samurai saburo sakai pdf saburo sakai with martin caidin fred saito. The sakai incident, sakai jiken was the killing of 11 french sailors from the french corvette dupleix in the port of sakai near osaka, japan in 1868 on march 8, 1868, a skiff sent to sakai was attacked by samurai of the tosa clan. Written by martin caidin from saburo sakais own memoirs and journalist fred saitos extensive interviews with the world war ii fighter pilot, samurai. Winged samurai is one of my favorite books in my small but growing library of all things jnaf. 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.
Sakai enjoyed a singular and most cherished reputation among fighter pilots. Two zeros were shot down in the battle, and the b32 was seriously damaged. Current edition of sakais autobiography, the acclaimed book by saburo sakai and martin caidin. Caidin wrote the prose of the book, basing its contents on. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Serata nitta arichika, a samurai of the 14th century, was the common ancestor of both the sakai clan and the matsudaira clan, which the sakai later served. 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. 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. This wellwritten, first person memoir covers sakais early life and entire war experience from his brutal pilot training in the 1930s to the attack on pearl harbor and firebombing of. Autobiography of japans fighter ace saburo sakai pages 160162. Excruciatingly painful wounds, and the stubborn pride of a man who refuses.
Written by martin caidin from saburo sakai s own memoirs and journalist fred saitos extensive interviews with the world war ii fighter pilot, samurai. She exclaims what has happened to my baby to which jack replies. He may have been a great pilot and a masterful shooter, but his cause was vile. Now customize the name of a clipboard to store your clips. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the. Dogfight between saburo sakai and james southerland august 7, 1942 excert from samurai. In the sengoku period, under tokugawa ieyasu who was the head. Join facebook to connect with sakai saburo and others you may know. It was part of the bantam war books series of the 50s and 60s. 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.
A man of samurai roots himself, his weapon was zero and his legacy nothing less than extraordinary. Saburo sakai meets the sbd gunner who wounded him at guadalcanal. Sakai, by contrast, was flying and fighting on behalf of the evil unleashed by japanese militarism in the 1930s. Sakais own autobiography was published in japanese language only. Written by martin caidin from saburo sakais own memoirs and journalist fred saitos extensive interviews with the fighter pilot, samauir. Samurai by fred saito,martin caidin, saburo sakai and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Saburo sakai was born into one of japans great samurai warrior families and became one of his country s greatest ww2 pilots and the only one to survive the war. Jack and the baby, s04e, jack goes on an adventure with a baby and at the end of the episode, the baby is returned to his mother but now the baby has jacks eyes. Join our community just now to flow with the file saburo sakai samurai and make our shared file collection even more complete and exciting. Saburo sakai was a japanese naval aviator and fighter ace of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii. Military history ibooks new ed by saburo sakai isbn.
Samurai of the air 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, new britain. Samurai is another book you wont be able to put down. Military history ibooks new ed by sakai, saburo isbn. Feb 07, 20 on the last episode of samurai jack, episode lii. Join facebook to connect with saburo sakai and others you may know.
Saburo sakai is one of those larger than life figures of wwii. His total of 64 victories puts him in fourth place after warrant officer hiroyoshi nishizawa, 1 victories, lt. In this japanese name, the family name is sakai saburo sakai japanese. Sublieutenant saburo sakai was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace gekitsuio, of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii. Its the japanese version of the first and last and the reader follows sakai s career from the early days of japanese victory to the wars conclusion. Samurai of the air originally appeared in the may 2018 issue of aviation history.
1203 835 265 468 1216 1131 24 589 1477 1128 444 664 1091 587 342 1320 880 470 765 1150 245 136 309 549 1249 1166 921 161 743 1129 250