Original Item - Only One Available. Saburō Sakai, nicknamed the “Angel of Death”, was the 4th best Japanese pilot of World War II by number of enemy aircraft he shot down. Engaging in over 200 dogfights, he had 64 confirmed kills, often pitting his Zero fighter against superior American-made Hellcats. He survived the war, and became a famous figure for his criticism of the War and the government of the Japanese Empire.

Born August 25th, 1916, in Saga Prefecture, Japan, Saburō Sakai came from a family with a long Samurai legacy, his ancestors having taken part in the Japanese invasions of Korea from 1592-1598. On May 31st, 1933, at age 16, Sakai enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Navy and in 1937, he was accepted into the navy pilot training program. Promoted to Petty Officer Second Class (二等兵曹) in 1938, Sakai took part in aerial combat flying the Mitsubishi A5M at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938–1939 and was wounded in action. Later, he was selected to fly the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter in combat over China.

In 1942, Sakai was hit over Guadacanal. Blood streaming from both eyes, shards of metal embedded in his skull and torso, an arm and leg partially paralyzed, he flew 680 miles back to his base in Rabaul and made a perfect landing. His right eye was permanently blinded. Later in life he is quoted as saying “If I had been ordered to bomb New York or Washington in order to end the war, I wouldn’t have hesitated. So I fully understand why the U.S. bombed Hiroshima.” After World War II, Sakai became a pacifist and a Buddhist and promised that he would never again kill another living thing, even a mosquito. Only months before his death, Sakai told reporters that he still prayed for the souls of the Chinese, American, Australian and Dutch pilots he had killed.

The group photo of Sakai and his unit is signed by Sakai in the top left, both in English and Japanese. On the back of this frame is the business card of a previous owner, James F. Lansdale, a WWII Aviation Historian, which provides some provenance to the group. The second frame is of a small article about Sakai which credits him with 64 confirmed kills and the nickname “The Angel of Death”. Both frames are in fine shape ready to hang on the wall.

The frame with the signature measures 9x7”, and the second frame measures 11.5 x 9.5”.

Southeast Asia

When Japan attacked the Western Allies in 1941, Sakai participated in the attack on the Philippines as a member of the Tainan Air Group. On 8 December 1941, Sakai flew one of 45 Zeros from the Tainan Kōkūtai (a Kōkūtai was an Air Group) that attacked Clark Air Base in the Philippines. In his first combat against Americans, he shot down a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and destroyed two B-17 Flying Fortresses by strafing them on the ground. Sakai flew missions the next day during heavy weather.

On the third day of the battle, Sakai claimed to have shot down a B-17, flown by Captain Colin P. Kelly. Sakai, who has often been credited with the victory, was a Shotai leader engaged in this fight with the bomber although he and his two wingmen do not appear to have been given official credit for it.

Early in 1942, Sakai was transferred to Tarakan Island in Borneo and fought in the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese high command instructed fighter patrols to down all enemy aircraft that were encountered, whether they were armed or not. On a patrol with his Zero over Java, just after he had shot down an enemy aircraft, Sakai encountered a civilian Dutch Douglas DC-3 flying at low altitude over dense jungle. Sakai initially assumed that it was transporting important people and signaled to its pilot to follow him, but the pilot did not obey. Sakai descended and approached the DC-3. He then saw a blonde woman and a young child through a window, along with other passengers. The woman reminded him of Mrs. Martin, an American who occasionally had taught him as a child in middle school and had been kind to him. He ignored his orders, flew ahead of the pilot, and signaled him to go ahead. The pilot and the passengers saluted him. Sakai did not mention the encounter in the aerial combat report.

During the Borneo Campaign, Sakai achieved 13 more victories before he was grounded by illness. When he recovered three months later in April, Petty Officer First Class Sakai joined a squadron (chutai) of the Tainan Kōkūtai under Sub-Lieutenant Junichi Sasai at Lae, New Guinea. Over the next four months, he scored the majority of his victories in flying against American and Australian pilots based at Port Moresby.

A myth has been perpetuated over time but declared to be product of the imagination of Martin Caidin, the co-author of Sakai's book "Samurai." Supposedly, on the night of 16 May, Sakai and his colleagues, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa and Toshio Ota, were listening to a broadcast of an Australian radio program, and Nishizawa recognized the eerie "Danse Macabre" of Camille Saint-Saëns. Inspired, Nishizawa is said to have come up with the idea of doing demonstration loops over the enemy airfield. The next day, his squadron included fellow aces Hiroyoshi Nishizawa and Toshio Ōta. At the end of an attack on Port Moresby, which had involved 18 Zeros, the trio performed three tight loops in close formation over the allied air base. Nishizawa indicated that he wanted to repeat the performance. Diving to 6,000 ft (1,800 m), the three Zeros did three more loops without receiving any AA fire from the ground. The following day, a lone Allied bomber flew over the Lae airfield and dropped a note attached to a long cloth ribbon. A soldier picked up the note and delivered to the squadron commander. It read (paraphrased): "Thank you for the wonderful display of aerobatics by three of your pilots. Please pass on our regards and inform them that we will have a warm reception ready for them, next time they fly over our airfield." The squadron commander was furious and reprimanded the three pilots for their stupidity, but the Tainan Kōkūtai's three leading aces felt that Nishizawa's aerial choreography of the Danse Macabre had been worth it.