The book states that on the night of August 14-15, 1945, the evening before Tokyos surrender, Sakai and an Ensign Jiro Kawachi intercepted a B-29 and shot it down. This was in May 1933. While I was there I was taught by an American, Mr. Martin, and his wife came to the class to teach us while her husband
wikipedia.en/Sabur_Sakai.md at main chinapedia/wikipedia.en It read "Thank you for the wonderful display of aerobatics by three of your pilots.
When lowering clouds afforded a chance, he broke off and returned to base. Please tell Saburo that I read his book twice, he said. Yet Sakai did fly an additional mission that remains controversial even today. Sakai sent his daughter to college in the United States "to learn English and democracy." Sakai visited the US and met many of his former adversaries, including Lieutenant Commander Harold "Lew" Jones (1921-2009), the SBD Dauntless rear-seat gunner (piloted by Ensign Robert C. Shaw), who had wounded him. Nishizawa visited Sakai while he was recuperating in the Yokosuka hospital in Japan. Southerland parachuted to safety. Additional reading: Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, by Mark Pattie; and Zero!, by Jiro Horikoshi and Masatake Okumiya.