Zero, The Story of Japan's Air War in the Pacific—as Seen by the Enemy

By: Masatake Okumiya, Jiro Horikoshi

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the thrilling saga of war in the air in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II told from the Japanese point of view. It is the story of the men who created, led, and fought in the deadly Zero fighter plane. In their own words, Jiro Horikoshi (who designed the Zero), Masatake Okumiya (leader of many Zero squadrons), and Saburo Sakai (Japan's leading surviving fighter ace) as well as many other men, tell the inside story of developing the Zero and Japan's air force. They tell what it felt like to bomb American ships and to shoot down American airplanes -- and then of their shock when the myth of invincibility was shattered by the new Lightning, Hellcat, and Corsair fighters. They tell of the fight against the growing strength of a remorseless American enemy; and how, in desperation the Japanese High Command ordered the creation of deadly suicide squadrons, the Kamikaze. And finally they reveal their reaction to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japanese perspective of Pacific air war

I found it quite interesting to hear how Japanese aviation figures viewed the air war. While the book dragged at times, it contains a ton of interesting insights.

One commenter noted that the authors did not mention atrocities inflicted by Japanese forces. While true, that's not the place of this book. Overall, the authors express a good deal of remorse for following Japanese leadership and the hardships they inflicted on people around the Pacific. They also discuss, albeit briefly, the factors unique to Japanese society underlying the people's fanatical support for the war.

The authors support the notion that the Japanese government, knowing that the war was lost, was willing to sacrifice its citizens fighting a US invasion. While they don't say it, and they certainly decry the horror of the atomic bomb, they give the impression that they understand why it was used.

So, not a ton of flying (although there are some really interesting personal, stories of particular missions) but, if you'd like to understand how Japanese leadership saw the war, especially the air war, and what they could have done differently, this is a super worthwhile title!