In the book, Sakai comes across as a very sensitive man, not just a great fighter pilot. He speaks with respect about the Allied pilots he fought and shot down. After the war, he helped the wife of an admiral was now broke, though he and his wife, too, were struggling in post-war Japan. The military history of Japan has many shameful episodes, and not something to be proud of, but the air warfare with pilots such as Sakai and Nishizawa is something the Japanese should be proud of. All the same, let us hope such brutal wars are not repeated again.
That he helped the admiral's widow is truly indicative of his humanitarian spirit, because the admiral in question was Takijiro Onishi, father of the kamikaze concept. Sakai hated how he had sent so many young men to their deaths.
Sakai shot down James Pug Southerland, an American ace, escaped 15 American fighters and continued to score victories against a more advanced American fighters from his aging Zero. Amazing.
Sakai also shot down 64 enemy planes and was the greatest surviving Japanese ace of WW2. The greatest ace, Nishizawa, who shot down 104 enemy planes, was killed in a cargo plane while being transported.
@@bobuboi4643 The Japanese DID enter individual victory credits for a short time - early in the war, when things were going their way. In any event, even if they did not always count at the time, postwar historians have definitely been counting. Simple tallying of losses on the Allied side clearly indicates that for any single Japanese pilot to have scored 100+ victories is impossible.
Added to that he was flying a beat up A6m2 model well outdated for that time. Added to that he was escorting 4 tokubetsu kogeki tai (kamikaze) in which he didn't lose one. Added to that his Zero had only a small amount of ammunition and despiite this, was able to put holes in 4 F6fs. One F6f did not make it home. One of the surviving F6f pilots said that if Sakai had been flying for us, he'd have won the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Can't blame them for being overly cautious , there's a good chance one Hellcat can accidentally shoot down another Hellcat with all those planes crisscrossing among each other. Actually Sakai was safer if he flied right in the middle of them.
That would make a good movie I would also like to see a movie about George Preddy who had the most kills in a P-51 in Europe but started out fighting the Japanese most never knew him because he was shot down and killed by friendly ground fire by mistake near the end of WW2.
Kudos to Sakai for using his superb skills as a pilot (and a convenient rain cloud) to escape that battle. I believe his was the only plane to return. One thing many people miss is Sakai really only faced “Grumman’s” and real US Navy pilots a handful of times. Most of his career and kill record was racked up in China. Or facing largely poorly equipped and inexperienced Dutch, British and US garrison pilots in the East Indies. His first encounter with Wildcats was over Guadalcanal, in the same fight that left him badly injured and nearly blind in his right eye. The one Wildcat he fought horrified him both in the skill of its pilot and the incredible amount of damage it could take and still fly. Even after pouring 700 rounds of ammo into the F4F it’s pilot Pug Sutherland was unharmed and able to bail out safely. He later discovered that Dauntlesses and a Avengers have twin 30 cal tail guns. The hard way when one creased his skull. That led to him being out of combat and mainly training pilots for all of ‘43 and most of ‘44. His next time back in combat was this encounter with the Hellcats. Which had to seem grossly unfair to him. Now they had a plane as durable as the a Wildcat that performed like or above the Zero. The dude was a legend of a pilot. It would have been fun to have seen what he could have done in a Hellcat or Mustang post war.
You are absolutely correct. The bulk of Sakai's kills were inferior USAAF planes (mostly Warhawks, Airacobras and Mitchells) he encountered over the skies of Indonesia and New Guinea. He only ever downed a single Wildcat (Pug Southerland) and probably no more than two Hellcats. Interestingly, though, his kill count in China was not high (just two aerial kills and one ground-strafing victory).
I read his book, amazing pilot, would love to see a movie or documentary about him. He also mentions a Japanese pilot who was a drunk and wouldn't follow orders, kind of like Pappy Boynton, apparently one of the highest scoring Japanese aces.
That would have been the legendary, incorrigible Sadaaki Akamatsu. Not quite the top in terms of kill count (30-ish), but definitely a giant in terms of individual achievements (taking on 75 Mustangs single handedly, shooting down one and escaping unharmed, among other exploits).
I couldn't recomment SAMURAI! highly enough, it is one of the most compelling WW2 books I've ever read. I still remember Sakai's account on a stunt flight he performed along with Nishizawa just above Port Moresby, just for the sake of it!!!.
While I'm not fond of the Imperial Japanese Army (they were pretty brutal to their POW), I'm not going to lie: Saburo Sakai is a badass and Japan deserves to be proud of him; a modern legend just like the Red Baron.
I remember reading Samurai and recalling a air battle with a P-39 over New Guinea where he noted the American pilot was superb and had he had a better aircraft he might have well emerged the victor.
I read his story back in the 60's. The one thing I remember is Saburo and 3 other pilots in a car that ran off the road and all 4 jumped out before it crashed because of their quick reflexes.
The Zero flew like a stunt plane. It was like a ballet dancer in tights. Very light. Underpowered engine. Useless machine guns. Slow cannons that lobbed softballs. No self- sealing fuel tanks. No armor. Pilots and Naval Aviators had to get close to the enemy. On the other hand, the re-designed Shiden-Kai was a war machine. It had armor. A powerful engine. Combat flaps. Bullet proof front canopy plate. ( It should have had six heavy machine guns but had four bad cannons). It was a Samurai with armor.
The squadron he fought was VF-2 and there are eyewitness reports from two Hellcat pilots that corroborate the entire incident (William McCormick and Clancy Rich).
Someone once asked him if he bore any grudge against America/Americans for the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. He instantly replied “No. It was a war, you did what you had to.” He was then asked: “If Japan had the Atomic Bomb would you have used it at Pearl Harbor?” Saki replied: “Yes, of course.”
not in this battle. That happened when he engaged a Douglas SBD Dauntless by his mistook those dive bombers where a Grumman F4F wildcat and was shot in the head by SBD's rear gunner.
Actually they are SBD Dauntless. This air battle in which Sakai lost his eye took place in 1942 in the guadalcanal campaign. Indeed there was no TBF avanger operating in this campaign.
He was, really, the greatest WW2 single seat fighter pilot. He was the best out of them all. Including all of the considerations applied, he was number one by a great margin.
Really, better than any fighter pilot in WWll. Don't get carried away by his brilliant flying. He's better than most, but you're overlooking some great fighter pilots.Besides he is supposed to fight to the death and not run away....of course he didn't have any bullet holes in his plane, it would have exploded if it had been hit!
@@gkauto1959Both are great. We'll never know who the greatest was. But Marseille was bested by the same Allied ace twice IIRC. Sakai never lost a spar.
@JPN850R Depends on what model Rei-sen Sen to ki you speak of, the original A6M2 type11 had 960hp. It was improved to 1000hp with the type 21. The A6m3 had a 2 stage supercharger Sakae21 and put out about 1200hp at 24,000ft. The A6m5 type 52 had a bigger supercharger with water/meth and increased bore that brought the engine to 1,400hp.
Ive got his autobiography. "Samarai" He had been shot down earlier in the war and as a result had only one eye at the time of this action He detailes it in his book. At 100 kills he was a badass pilot, and their highest scorer for a while.
I noticed on a forum that an author , pathetically tried to claim by reviewing documents ..that Sakai only had 3 kills. Tried to attribute that to them all being shared with other pilots. Weak ..very weak.
I think that by this time in the war he would not have been flying a Zero in that early war color scheme. I think it would have been camouflaged with dark green upper surfaces. This light-gray overall color scheme is from an earlier period. The red-bordered star-and-bar markings on the Hellcats were applied from the summer of 1943 only for a few months until the red borders were covered with blue.
Watch me answer a question from 2 years ago but no, saburo sakai's a6m2 bore his own personal colors with his signature blue cherry blossom markings. The one depicted here can even be seen at the Australian war memorial in Canberra today. His a6m2 and his squadrons just didn't get their a6m2 painted to the green top
It is worth reading the paper back in the Marabou War collection, in order to understand this great pilot's character and nobility despite the atrocities of the war.
@Buemmo san, Consider the motor output difference; 2,000HP(Hellcat) vs less than 1,000HP(Zeke). The A6M series fighters were great planes, because the pilots were extremely skilled. With virtually no protection, many skilled pilots were shot down and it led to the victory of the U.S armed forces. Later in his life, Sir. Saburo Sakai noted that P-51D Mustang (The U.S Army) was the best fighter that came out during the WWII.
Nice video! But I think the Zero is the wrong version. That is an A6M2 Zero, that Saburo Sakai flew in 1941-42, until he was very badly wounded in it over Guadalcanal by a TBF Avenger ventral gunner. The battle against 15 Hellcats took place near Iwo Jima on June 24, 1944. At that time Sakai was flying a green A6M5 Zero Model 52. Hope you remake the video with the A6M5....go on, it's fun making it! ;)
I always wondered what the Hellcat pilots thoughts were. Did any of them talk about a lone Japanese Zero outflying them? What squadron did they belong to? What U. S. aircraft carrier in the vicinity of Iwo Jima launched them? We have only Saburo Sakai’s point of view. Sakai was Japans best aviator.
I did a mistake about title in japanese, that is "Ozora no samurai", I whatched in theater in São Paulo late 70s, title in portuguese was " No limiar da eternidade" that means to english Edge to eternity.
@timonsolus - During the Battle of Guadacanal, Sakai-san was hit by the tail gunner while (mistakingly) attacking a squadron of SBD Dauntless dive-bombers from above and behind, thinking them to be F4F Wildcats.
He even met with that same tail gunner who woundes him, Harold Jones, way after the end of WW2, before Saburo Sakai's death in September 22, 2000 at age 84.
@JPN850R You seem to not understand that the power of the engine does not make a plane maneuverable. The zero's wings provided much more lift at a lower speed, and it was way, way way lighter. If you tried to do a turn dogfight in any US aircraft during WW2 against a A6M plane, the A6M will outmaneuver each one. But as shown here, it's kind of hard to shoot down a plane even if you get behind it if you have 14 other hellcats chasing you while you line up your shot.
@CaptHawkeye-......and thats why, well one of the reasons,at least, Japan lost WW2. But just like the germans were not all nazis, many japanese were not fanatics, and,felt they were serving their country against its enemies. Sadly here on TH-cam we have people who think U.S. Soldiers now overseas are oppressors...
Sadly enough most U.S. soldiers overseas are opressors, just ask the local population and not the ones the U.S. put in power because they listen so well.
mike gee At least Saddam kept local lesser power in check. What did US spawn? The Taliban (who bites them back), and all brand new ISIS! And what did US do? "Here some airstrikes. You Iraqi guys deal with it."
allmynickhvbeentaken - as for your assertion that "Saddam" kept lesser powers in check? Saddam MURDERED and ordered the MURDER of Thousands of people during his regime.( many were innocent people who just wanted freedom)
mike gee How many did get their freedom? Suicide bombing left and right, ISIS comes in and kills everyone, they even killed children. ISIS is the spawn of so-called US "freedom". US doesnt change anything, they make it worse.
+allmynickhvbeentaken Sure, tell that to the Japanese, Germans, French, Brits, Koreans, et al. Vietnam was a poorly managed effort by LBJ. ISIS is fanatical and allowed to flourish because of Obama. Iran is a menace thanks to Jimmy Carter. When the next war erupts, don't ask American for help. I know as a pig leftist, you fight for nothing anyway.
Yeah....this guy was an example of true skill and prowess in the air. He was one of a small number of pilots that survived the slaughter of 43' so many Japanese pilots that were mid level skill but advancing quickly were killed at either Midway or Guadalcanal or Marianas....so few replacements in Japan for these pilots where the US just kept pumping out entry level skill pilots by the dozen or hundreds that quickly gained experience. Midway and Marianas were true losses for Japan in both men and material ( ships ) that couldn't be replaced. The US could replace anything it lost. And the US lost much....this wasn't a one sided war in the sense the the US fought better or more superior to Japan necessarily....as an example a P 47 Pilot said in an interview that his first engagement with Japanese forces was a night bombing mission that he couldn't go along with because he hadn't arrived at the airfield for the mission in time. Out of 30 P 47's only five returned to base. The Japanese were a hardened fighting force that gave stiff and unrelenting resistance to America. Japan's only chance was a swift knock out blow and go in fast and hard to destroy America's naval fleet at Hawaii. Meaning every last Carrier. The Carrier's were only just returning to port after exercises. A truely devastating error for Japan. A drawn out war was not winnable for Japan. But they fought it anyway....what else could you do ? Say sorry ? Even if all the US Carriers had been sunk I'm not sure that the US would have accepted it. Japan's only recourse after that would be to return to Japan or the areas it had taken over and fight a defensive war. Just as actual history played out. They probably would have lost just as they did in actual history. It was a matter of how long would it take for the US to manufacture new Carriers ? And in that time could Japan take Australia nor New Zealand in the mean time and be unable to be dislodged ? We will never know.
Too bad that the exact turn-by-turn combat fight is lost to history. Imagine what an accurate, 3-D holographic re-creation of the fight would be like. It would be heart-stopping.
Has any rivet counters mentioned yet that it's the wrong Zero for this event? Clip shows the early Zeke from his New Guniea career, but here he would be in a late model A6M that would be green. Just sayin
Imagens muito fantasiosas. Alguém poderia fazer um vídeo melhor sobre o Saburo, tem uma bela história: sofreu um tiro na cabeça e conseguiu retornar e pousar, perdeu um olho e se tornou mais terrível ainda... grande guerreiro! Acho q só os americanos lastimam o fato dele ter deixado escapar Lyndon Johnson, pois se ele o tivesse matado, o mundo ñ veria c/ certo prazer eles terem perdido aquela guerra no Vietnã.
The Niʻihau incident occurred on December 7-13, 1941, when Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi crash-landed his Zero on the Hawaiian island of Niʻihau after participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wikipedia Dates: Dec 7, 1941 - Dec 13, 1941
Sakai was honorable in the old sense of the word. My son met him in the 1990s at Fredericksburg, TX, at a Confederate Air Force event. My son is privileged to have a Zero tech brochure signed by Sakai both in English and in Katakana. My father served in the Pacific in WW2 and Americans were not always "The Good Guys" in how they conducted themselves. War is war.
I loved the book, respect the pilot and enjoyed the video. But has his tale ever been confirmed? Seems like something USN pilots would have been talking about, taking on one of the old guns. Just wondering.
I read the book and loved it. This vid shows what a good pilot can do against steep odds. Tha A6M5 could match the Hellcat, but Japan lost many good pilots and early momentum. Thank God that the Zero wasn't replaced by somethingthat could fight on equal terms ith the Hellcat.
Good video, this has to be IL-2 1946 Simulation. I am still trying to learn how to fly like him, but in War Thunder just too many flawed and exploits going on.
Don't you want to tell about US Navy commander David McCampbell and his wingman and how they shot down about 15 fighter aircraft in one dogfight? Two americans and about 60 Japanese aircraft (Leyte Gulf, 24 Oct 1944).
Does enyone know for how many hours Saburo Sakai has flown from Tulagi to Rabaul, on August 8th, 1942 ?? There is some controversy about the period of the flight.
(continued) This was all done before the dropping of the nuclear bomb, which was dropped by his command. Killing 50% to 90% of the people of 67 Japanese cities and then bombing them with two nuclear bombs. But true hero was only one person. "Was he not truely a great pilot in more than one way?"(con)
@JPN850R Also, take in consideration the diffrence in skill between Saburo Sakai and the american pilots. As he said himself, they were nowhere near as good as their planes.
Il miglior pilota giapponese per manovre e per la versatilità e competenze aerea e tutto quel che si dice sui piloti americani che erano bravi ,tutte bugie ,avevano tanti aerei( il 100/100 ) in più e tanti uomini che morivano come la carta moschicida ma agli Usa non fregava niente .e tutt'ora i veri piloti sono inglesi italiani giapponesi e tedeschi poi arrivano canadesi australiani russi e americani sempre se avrebbero aerei alla pari .C, è da dire che prima di Usa Russia e altri sono anche gli israeliani.
The F6F was not only more maneuverable than the A6M, but it also had thicker armor plating, superior fire power and almost x2 powerful engine (approx 2,000HP vs. 1,000HP for the A6M). Sir. Sakai, during this evasive combat, had one eye impaired from a previous battle.
It's a wonder why he didn't shoot any of the inexperienced yanks down. The yanks should have sent 13 on an outer perimeter course and left their best two fighters with him.
![USAB Showcase: Australia vs USA [OFFICIAL STREAM]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/keiEr_MOaSQ/mqdefault.jpg)
In the book, Sakai comes across as a very sensitive man, not just a great fighter pilot. He speaks with respect about the Allied pilots he fought and shot down. After the war, he helped the wife of an admiral was now broke, though he and his wife, too, were struggling in post-war Japan. The military history of Japan has many shameful episodes, and not something to be proud of, but the air warfare with pilots such as Sakai and Nishizawa is something the Japanese should be proud of. All the same, let us hope such brutal wars are not repeated again.
That he helped the admiral's widow is truly indicative of his humanitarian spirit, because the admiral in question was Takijiro Onishi, father of the kamikaze concept. Sakai hated how he had sent so many young men to their deaths.
Sakai shot down James Pug Southerland, an American ace, escaped 15 American fighters and continued to score victories against a more advanced American fighters from his aging Zero. Amazing.
Sakai also shot down 64 enemy planes and was the greatest surviving Japanese ace of WW2. The greatest ace, Nishizawa, who shot down 104 enemy planes, was killed in a cargo plane while being transported.
@@Godstud No Japanese ace ever hit the 100 kill mark. Nishizawa was officially credited with 36 kills and unofficially with 87.
@@Nachtsider the Japanese didn't count there Pilots scores, so what "confirmed"? They could have Gotten any amount of victorys.
@@bobuboi4643 The Japanese DID enter individual victory credits for a short time - early in the war, when things were going their way. In any event, even if they did not always count at the time, postwar historians have definitely been counting. Simple tallying of losses on the Allied side clearly indicates that for any single Japanese pilot to have scored 100+ victories is impossible.
@@Nachtsider never believe in the Allied history...in WW2.
See the Ukraine war, 2022...2023..., BBC CNN, CNBC,....etc. just act as propaganda media.
Added to that he was flying a beat up A6m2 model well outdated for that time. Added to that he was escorting 4 tokubetsu kogeki tai (kamikaze) in which he didn't lose one. Added to that his Zero had only a small amount of ammunition and despiite this, was able to put holes in 4 F6fs. One F6f did not make it home. One of the surviving F6f pilots said that if Sakai had been flying for us, he'd have won the Congressional Medal of Honor.
That zero fighter may be outdated at this time but the samurai at controls isn't...
Saburo Sakai fighting against 15 Hellcats and the Hellcats couldn´t even hit Saburos Zero.
Saburo Sakai is a legend.
And the Americans were green.
Can't blame them for being overly cautious , there's a good chance one Hellcat can accidentally shoot down another Hellcat with all those planes crisscrossing among each other. Actually Sakai was safer if he flied right in the middle of them.
There needs to be a movie about Saburo Sakai. Get actors who speak both Japanese and English and shoot everything in both languages.
That would make a good movie I would also like to see a movie about George Preddy who had the most kills in a P-51 in Europe but started out fighting the Japanese most never knew him because he was shot down and killed by friendly ground fire by mistake near the end of WW2.
@@Mike-01234 George Preddy was from my home town. The American legion hall here was named after him as well as a street. Greensboro NC.
@Jack the Gestapo There indeed was. It was a flawed but decent production, and is virtually inaccessible today.
Except IIRC, he was flying a Raiden during this encounter, not a zero.
@@donpyers3638 He never flew the Raiden in combat, only as a test pilot.
2 important facts, 1) At this time, Sakai had only one eye. 2) Upon landing, the zero had not a scratch on it.
Did he lose an eye when he got shot by the rear gunners of a bomber?
@@nintenjabennie7917 Yes, over Guadalcanal in August of 1942.
Iirc, he was flying a Raiden, not a zero.
@@donpyers3638 Sakai never flew the Raiden operationally. Only on test flights.
Samurai dont know fear when you olredy dead you dont need to see you feal
Kudos to Sakai for using his superb skills as a pilot (and a convenient rain cloud) to escape that battle. I believe his was the only plane to return. One thing many people miss is Sakai really only faced “Grumman’s” and real US Navy pilots a handful of times. Most of his career and kill record was racked up in China. Or facing largely poorly equipped and inexperienced Dutch, British and US garrison pilots in the East Indies. His first encounter with Wildcats was over Guadalcanal, in the same fight that left him badly injured and nearly blind in his right eye. The one Wildcat he fought horrified him both in the skill of its pilot and the incredible amount of damage it could take and still fly. Even after pouring 700 rounds of ammo into the F4F it’s pilot Pug Sutherland was unharmed and able to bail out safely. He later discovered that Dauntlesses and a Avengers have twin 30 cal tail guns. The hard way when one creased his skull. That led to him being out of combat and mainly training pilots for all of ‘43 and most of ‘44. His next time back in combat was this encounter with the Hellcats. Which had to seem grossly unfair to him. Now they had a plane as durable as the a Wildcat that performed like or above the Zero.
The dude was a legend of a pilot. It would have been fun to have seen what he could have done in a Hellcat or Mustang post war.
You are absolutely correct. The bulk of Sakai's kills were inferior USAAF planes (mostly Warhawks, Airacobras and Mitchells) he encountered over the skies of Indonesia and New Guinea. He only ever downed a single Wildcat (Pug Southerland) and probably no more than two Hellcats. Interestingly, though, his kill count in China was not high (just two aerial kills and one ground-strafing victory).
I read his book, amazing pilot, would love to see a movie or documentary about him. He also mentions a Japanese pilot who was a drunk and wouldn't follow orders, kind of like Pappy Boynton, apparently one of the highest scoring Japanese aces.
That would have been the legendary, incorrigible Sadaaki Akamatsu. Not quite the top in terms of kill count (30-ish), but definitely a giant in terms of individual achievements (taking on 75 Mustangs single handedly, shooting down one and escaping unharmed, among other exploits).
@@Nachtsider Thanks for the info, will have to do some research on him. I have Saburo Sakai's book.
Aviation knows no political boundaries. Regardless of politics, Mr. Sakai was a true aviation hero and will always be a legend. JA
wow a really amazing pilot and a true hero for his country
This how all my matches go in war thunder, my whole team chases 1 guy.
I couldn't recomment SAMURAI! highly enough, it is one of the most compelling WW2 books I've ever read. I still remember Sakai's account on a stunt flight he performed along with Nishizawa just above Port Moresby, just for the sake of it!!!.
ditto here a great read....excellent book about one helluva fighter pilot.
While I'm not fond of the Imperial Japanese Army (they were pretty brutal to their POW), I'm not going to lie: Saburo Sakai is a badass and Japan deserves to be proud of him; a modern legend just like the Red Baron.
Eduardo Rosseto The book is entitled "Samurai!". IT was written by Saburo Sakai and Martin Caidin. Cheers.
Sakai was a good man who, after the war, vowed to never kill another living thing.
Pat Whited Amen.
As is Erwin Rommel, Saburo Sakai both men are respected by their enemies. They were just doing what their nation called them to be.
I remember reading Samurai and recalling a air battle with a P-39 over New Guinea where he noted the American pilot was superb and had he had a better aircraft he might have well emerged the victor.
Sakai was an amazing man. If you have an opportunity to read his book, you won't be disappointed.
I read his story back in the 60's. The one thing I remember is Saburo and 3 other pilots in a car that ran off the road and all 4 jumped out before it crashed because of their quick reflexes.
The Zero flew like a stunt plane. It was like a ballet dancer in tights. Very light. Underpowered engine. Useless machine guns. Slow cannons that lobbed softballs. No self- sealing fuel tanks. No armor. Pilots and Naval Aviators had to get close to the enemy. On the other hand, the re-designed Shiden-Kai was a war machine. It had armor. A powerful engine. Combat flaps. Bullet proof front canopy plate. ( It should have had six heavy machine guns but had four bad cannons). It was a Samurai with armor.
I wonder what the allied pilots said when they landed? They had to be in awe!
This nip is OG!!😀
Have they ever identified the squadron he fought???? It would be fascinating to read their after-action report on this!
The squadron he fought was VF-2 and there are eyewitness reports from two Hellcat pilots that corroborate the entire incident (William McCormick and Clancy Rich).
@@Nachtsider - Links????
@@tominva4121 You'll have to buy a book for that. Henry Sakaida's 'Winged Samurai'.
a great pilot and a worthy warrior! mentioned many times in American history of Pacific war, as is the agility of the Zero fighter.
Hellcat with a 2.000hp engine and Zero only 980... the aerodynamics and pilots made all the difference !
Someone once asked him if he bore any grudge against America/Americans for the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. He instantly replied “No. It was a war, you did what you had to.” He was then asked: “If Japan had the Atomic Bomb would you have used it at Pearl Harbor?” Saki replied: “Yes, of course.”
I read the book two times and its amazing.
Which book??
SAMURAI! By Saburo Sakai. Read that book twice myself.
I read "Samurai" back in high school years . I'm 74 now and still remember it.
Ed McDowell I ve read his book at school 1974 and still read every now and again
Great flying skills, just imagine if Nakajima and Ota was with him, half the Hellcats would of been shot down.
And he was blind of one eye!!!
not in this battle. That happened when he engaged a Douglas SBD Dauntless by his mistook those dive bombers where a Grumman F4F wildcat and was shot in the head by SBD's rear gunner.
+The Axis PoweR I AM SURE IT WAS A TBF AVENGER WHICH I HAVE READ IN MANY BOOKS ON THE PACIFIC WAR,ESPECIALLY GUADALCANAL.
Actually they are SBD Dauntless. This air battle in which Sakai lost his eye took place in 1942 in the guadalcanal campaign. Indeed there was no TBF avanger operating in this campaign.
Mike Lord no it was a sbd dive bomber check out the name if the pilot who shot Sakai in the eye, he was a sbd gunner
FRIED NEKO he was not blinded in this battle but he was blind, he lost his eye back in Guadalcanal. I believe iwo jima was close to 1944
Era tan inteligente en combate que sabia por la forma de volar y disparar de los americanos quien era novato y quien veterano
He was, really, the greatest WW2 single seat fighter pilot. He was the best out of them all. Including all of the considerations applied, he was number one by a great margin.
Really, better than any fighter pilot in WWll. Don't get carried away by his brilliant flying. He's better than most, but you're overlooking some great fighter pilots.Besides he is supposed to fight to the death and not run away....of course he didn't have any bullet holes in his plane, it would have exploded if it had been hit!
Yes he was good, but as good as the star of Africa? Marsielle?
@@gkauto1959Both are great. We'll never know who the greatest was. But Marseille was bested by the same Allied ace twice IIRC. Sakai never lost a spar.
THE TAINAN KOKUTAI WAS DISBANDED BY THIS TIME,OR DECIMATED.HE WAS FLYING AN ALL SEA GREEN ZERO A6M5. WINGED SAMURAI.
Great video! I wish you still put out content. Hope you're doing well. Cheers!🍻
He was a modern Samurai of his time with a flying katana _a true worier
Nah the samurai would have been slaughtered by anyone that wasn't a peasant or samurai
@JPN850R Depends on what model Rei-sen Sen to ki you speak of, the original A6M2 type11 had 960hp. It was improved to 1000hp with the type 21. The A6m3 had a 2 stage supercharger Sakae21 and put out about 1200hp at 24,000ft. The A6m5 type 52 had a bigger supercharger with water/meth and increased bore that brought the engine to 1,400hp.
Did the armament of the zero changed in later models?
Ive got his autobiography. "Samarai" He had been shot down earlier in the war and as a result had only one eye at the time of this action
He detailes it in his book. At 100 kills he was a badass pilot, and their highest scorer for a while.
correct his personal account is 64 the official count is 23 or so
I noticed on a forum that an author , pathetically tried to claim by reviewing documents ..that Sakai only had 3 kills. Tried to attribute that to them all being shared with other pilots. Weak ..very weak.
Read the book "Samurai", by Martin Caidin. It's great and tells Saburo Sakai's story.
I think that by this time in the war he would not have been flying a Zero in that early war color scheme. I think it would have been camouflaged with dark green upper surfaces. This light-gray overall color scheme is from an earlier period. The red-bordered star-and-bar markings on the Hellcats were applied from the summer of 1943 only for a few months until the red borders were covered with blue.
Watch me answer a question from 2 years ago but no, saburo sakai's a6m2 bore his own personal colors with his signature blue cherry blossom markings. The one depicted here can even be seen at the Australian war memorial in Canberra today. His a6m2 and his squadrons just didn't get their a6m2 painted to the green top
I read his biography in juinor. High school i still remeber it
Experts in a chaos ... good video and of course good skills!
Cool video!
ha...excellent work man...sabura was a great warrior.
Just imagine being in Subaro's flight wing, him and his two ace buddies stuck like glue in every HARD ASS TURN. Amazingg.. *-*
Fact: Saburo Sakai never lost a wingman during the entire war. They'd FIGHT to be his wingmen.
One of the best Japan had to offer!!
It is worth reading the paper back in the Marabou War collection, in order to understand this great pilot's character and nobility despite the atrocities of the war.
@Buemmo san,
Consider the motor output difference; 2,000HP(Hellcat) vs less than 1,000HP(Zeke).
The A6M series fighters were great planes, because the pilots were extremely skilled. With virtually no protection, many skilled pilots were shot down and it led to the victory of the U.S armed forces.
Later in his life, Sir. Saburo Sakai noted that P-51D Mustang (The U.S Army) was the best fighter that came out during the WWII.
The engine's power not even compensate the poor aerodynamics on american fighters, only in a free dive a brick can win a well designed plane...
Excellant video, Sakai is such a facinating figure. What kind of Zero was he flying at this battle?
rebelsatcloudnine A6M5
Nice video! But I think the Zero is the wrong version. That is an A6M2 Zero, that Saburo Sakai flew in 1941-42, until he was very badly wounded in it over Guadalcanal by a TBF Avenger ventral gunner.
The battle against 15 Hellcats took place near Iwo Jima on June 24, 1944. At that time Sakai was flying a green A6M5 Zero Model 52.
Hope you remake the video with the A6M5....go on, it's fun making it! ;)
I always wondered what the Hellcat pilots thoughts were. Did any of them talk about a lone Japanese Zero outflying them? What squadron did they belong to? What U. S. aircraft carrier in the vicinity of Iwo Jima launched them? We have only Saburo Sakai’s point of view. Sakai was Japans best aviator.
May I recommend Sakai's book: The Last Samurai. It's a fascinating read!
I did a mistake about title in japanese, that is "Ozora no samurai", I whatched in theater
in São Paulo late 70s, title in portuguese was " No limiar da eternidade" that means
to english Edge to eternity.
Diving for the ack. Did it many a time in Air Warrior.
@timonsolus - During the Battle of Guadacanal, Sakai-san was hit by the tail gunner while (mistakingly) attacking a squadron of SBD Dauntless dive-bombers from above and behind, thinking them to be F4F Wildcats.
He even met with that same tail gunner who woundes him, Harold Jones, way after the end of WW2, before Saburo Sakai's death in September 22, 2000 at age 84.
@JPN850R
You seem to not understand that the power of the engine does not make a plane maneuverable. The zero's wings provided much more lift at a lower speed, and it was way, way way lighter. If you tried to do a turn dogfight in any US aircraft during WW2 against a A6M plane, the A6M will outmaneuver each one. But as shown here, it's kind of hard to shoot down a plane even if you get behind it if you have 14 other hellcats chasing you while you line up your shot.
I liked this cilp, there is a distributor in Japan that sells movie with Saburo Sakai "Ozora no Ttsubasa " with
english subttles in the U.S another.
15 Tigers vs 1 Lion
@CaptHawkeye-......and thats why, well one of the reasons,at least, Japan lost WW2. But just like the germans were not all nazis, many japanese were not fanatics, and,felt they were serving their country against its enemies. Sadly here on TH-cam we have people who think U.S. Soldiers now overseas are oppressors...
Sadly enough most U.S. soldiers overseas are opressors, just ask the local population and not the ones the U.S. put in power because they listen so well.
mike gee
At least Saddam kept local lesser power in check. What did US spawn? The Taliban (who bites them back), and all brand new ISIS! And what did US do? "Here some airstrikes. You Iraqi guys deal with it."
allmynickhvbeentaken - as for your assertion that "Saddam" kept lesser powers in check? Saddam MURDERED and ordered the MURDER of Thousands of people during his regime.( many were innocent people who just wanted freedom)
mike gee
How many did get their freedom? Suicide bombing left and right, ISIS comes in and kills everyone, they even killed children.
ISIS is the spawn of so-called US "freedom". US doesnt change anything, they make it worse.
+allmynickhvbeentaken Sure, tell that to the Japanese, Germans, French, Brits, Koreans, et al. Vietnam was a poorly managed effort by LBJ. ISIS is fanatical and allowed to flourish because of Obama. Iran is a menace thanks to Jimmy Carter. When the next war erupts, don't ask American for help. I know as a pig leftist, you fight for nothing anyway.
The great Sakai was blinded in one eye two years earlier in the war.
Yeah....this guy was an example of true skill and prowess in the air. He was one of a small number of pilots that survived the slaughter of 43' so many Japanese pilots that were mid level skill but advancing quickly were killed at either Midway or Guadalcanal or Marianas....so few replacements in Japan for these pilots where the US just kept pumping out entry level skill pilots by the dozen or hundreds that quickly gained experience. Midway and Marianas were true losses for Japan in both men and material ( ships ) that couldn't be replaced. The US could replace anything it lost. And the US lost much....this wasn't a one sided war in the sense the the US fought better or more superior to Japan necessarily....as an example a P 47 Pilot said in an interview that his first engagement with Japanese forces was a night bombing mission that he couldn't go along with because he hadn't arrived at the airfield for the mission in time. Out of 30 P 47's only five returned to base. The Japanese were a hardened fighting force that gave stiff and unrelenting resistance to America. Japan's only chance was a swift knock out blow and go in fast and hard to destroy America's naval fleet at Hawaii. Meaning every last Carrier. The Carrier's were only just returning to port after exercises. A truely devastating error for Japan. A drawn out war was not winnable for Japan. But they fought it anyway....what else could you do ? Say sorry ? Even if all the US Carriers had been sunk I'm not sure that the US would have accepted it. Japan's only recourse after that would be to return to Japan or the areas it had taken over and fight a defensive war. Just as actual history played out. They probably would have lost just as they did in actual history. It was a matter of how long would it take for the US to manufacture new Carriers ? And in that time could Japan take Australia nor New Zealand in the mean time and be unable to be dislodged ? We will never know.
skilled and lucky that's how i describe him
Question: What skin and in what type of Zero did you put Saburo's skin? Please someone give me an answer :(
Too bad that the exact turn-by-turn combat fight is lost to history. Imagine what an accurate, 3-D holographic re-creation of the fight would be like. It would be heart-stopping.
Man that guy was a stick!!
@timonsolus it is a A6M5 5-2. . . it just had the incorrect paint scheme. =) observe the nose cowl flaps
Count the rivets whilst your at it
So this event acually occured. What book?
Has any rivet counters mentioned yet that it's the wrong Zero for this event? Clip shows the early Zeke from his New Guniea career, but here he would be in a late model A6M that would be green. Just sayin
An A6M5 not sure which sub variant of it...
i admire to you, real professional
Imagens muito fantasiosas. Alguém poderia fazer um vídeo melhor sobre o Saburo, tem uma bela história: sofreu um tiro na cabeça e conseguiu retornar e pousar, perdeu um olho e se tornou mais terrível ainda... grande guerreiro! Acho q só os americanos lastimam o fato dele ter deixado escapar Lyndon Johnson, pois se ele o tivesse matado, o mundo ñ veria c/ certo prazer eles terem perdido aquela guerra no Vietnã.
I HAVE HIS A PICTURE HE SIGNED WITH THE A6M MITSIBUSHI ZERO. ONE DAY THAT WILL BE WORTH A LOT.
Samurai ..... is the name of the book . It is in english .
The Niʻihau incident occurred on December 7-13, 1941, when Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi crash-landed his Zero on the Hawaiian island of Niʻihau after participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wikipedia
Dates: Dec 7, 1941 - Dec 13, 1941
It reminded me Werner Voss's last fight. Born pilot too, but he wasnt that lucky.
Voss was fighting back, though, and hitting enemy planes, seems like Sakai was just evading, with virtuoso skill of course.
Cyphi Voss was up against experienced pilots. Sakai knew immediately that he was facing rookies.
Maybe Werner Voss enemies were as good as their planes, unlike this Hellcat guys
Oddly enough he popped the top on a orange American soda that splashed his wind screen as well just prior to the battle. In his book.. Zero Ace
Sakai was honorable in the old sense of the word.
My son met him in the 1990s at Fredericksburg, TX, at a Confederate Air Force event. My son is privileged to have a Zero tech brochure signed by Sakai both in English and in Katakana.
My father served in the Pacific in WW2 and Americans were not always "The Good Guys" in how they conducted themselves. War is war.
1:13 music from Chrono Cross?
And not a single hit. How? How did he do this? With one eye.
I loved the book, respect the pilot and enjoyed the video. But has his tale ever been confirmed? Seems like something USN pilots would have been talking about, taking on one of the old guns. Just wondering.
There is indeed independent corroboration of this episode. The Hellcats in question were from VF-2.
the zero was my favorite plane in warthunder, just fly in tight turns and the cimbat area is yours
I read the book and loved it. This vid shows what a good pilot can do against steep odds. Tha A6M5 could match the Hellcat, but Japan lost many good pilots and early momentum. Thank God that the Zero wasn't replaced by somethingthat could fight on equal terms ith the Hellcat.
Shinden kai
It was. They just did not have enough of them, and enough good pilots.
What Game
Zero looks like old A6M2b model 21 and if in clash with hellcats it should be A6M5 model 52
You forgot to add the arresting hook on the tail of the Hellcats
"Hookless Cats?"
light as a fether....no bullet nor arrow can bring me down.!
Good video, this has to be IL-2 1946 Simulation. I am still trying to learn how to fly like him, but in War Thunder just too many flawed and exploits going on.
redindus69 Yup, it is IL-2 1946. Don't be sad if you can't fly like Saburo, he was the best Japanese pilot that was.
My dream. Soon I will become an ace like him
He got shot in the head and it went clean through his brain but he didnt die after 5 hours he return to the air base in rabel
Cool.
Just imagine nerv for this
It's like one pro vs fifteen newbies
Proud warrior I'm certain but his luck saved his ass.
These American were new pilots, this samurai trained pilot was the better by far.
Read his book.
Don't you want to tell about US Navy commander David McCampbell and his wingman and how they shot down about 15 fighter aircraft in one dogfight? Two americans and about 60 Japanese aircraft (Leyte Gulf, 24 Oct 1944).
Does enyone know for how many hours Saburo Sakai has flown from Tulagi to Rabaul, on August 8th, 1942 ?? There is some controversy about the period of the flight.
Renato Camurça It was 4 hours and 17 min. When he made it home, he made a perfect landing, ran out of fuel, and then passed out from blood loss.
+AcePilot The Gamer I read he almost crashed into some parked zero's on his first try and landed safely on his second.
he lost eye attacking a TBF Avenger,not taking into account the tail gunner,a costly error
(continued) This was all done before the dropping of the nuclear bomb, which was dropped by his command. Killing 50% to 90% of the people of 67 Japanese cities and then bombing them with two nuclear bombs. But true hero was only one person. "Was he not truely a great pilot in more than one way?"(con)
@JPN850R
Also, take in consideration the diffrence in skill between Saburo Sakai and the american pilots. As he said himself, they were nowhere near as good as their planes.
War thunder?
Il miglior pilota giapponese per manovre e per la versatilità e competenze aerea e tutto quel che si dice sui piloti americani che erano bravi ,tutte bugie ,avevano tanti aerei( il 100/100 ) in più e tanti uomini che morivano come la carta moschicida ma agli Usa non fregava niente .e tutt'ora i veri piloti sono inglesi italiani giapponesi e tedeschi poi arrivano canadesi australiani russi e americani sempre se avrebbero aerei alla pari .C, è da dire che prima di Usa Russia e altri sono anche gli israeliani.
If nisizhawa with him, several Hellcat Will be shoot down.
The F6F was not only more maneuverable than the A6M, but it also had thicker armor plating, superior fire power and almost x2 powerful engine (approx 2,000HP vs. 1,000HP for the A6M). Sir. Sakai, during this evasive combat, had one eye impaired from a previous battle.
you sure that hellcat is MORE maneuverable than the zero? not too sure about that, where'd you find out about that?
Mám jeho knihu Zera nad Pacifikem - je to tam stejně jako tady
THE ALLIED ACES SUCKS VS THE AXIS ONES!!!!! THESE ONES WERE SUPER MEN!!!
Thought th hellcat was the finest US fighter anywhere. What happened?
It's a wonder why he didn't shoot any of the inexperienced yanks down. The yanks should have sent 13 on an outer perimeter course and left their best two fighters with him.
tru ace