Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ Fahey
Now a more mundane question: Is a copy of Sakai's logbook in existence, and has anyone in the Western world seen or obtained it? That would be significant!
Russ
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Long after Saburo Sakai passed away, and also his widow, I made inquiries with the a relative...he doesn't know where his logbook is. In the 1970s, I knew a gentleman who knew Sakai well, an American, and he told me that he saw Sakai's logbook. It did exist. No, the whereabouts is unknown. I visited Sakai twice at his home and he never offered to show me.
Sakai is attributed with 64 victories, but this was a marketing gimmick tied to the advertisements for his book in Japan. In his ads, it stated that he was the "Miyamoto Musashi of Aerial Combat, with 64 kills." In Japanese folklore, Miyamoto Musashi was a Medieval Samurai who slew 64 opponents with his sword. Now do you get the idea?
Sakai probably amassed around 10 victories total, a tremendous figure for any Zero pilot. Those ten would have made him a super ace!