Junichi Sasai

Lieutenant Commander Junichi Sasai (笹井 醇一) was a Japanese naval aviator and fighter ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Sasai was killed leading his fighter squadron during an attack on Henderson Field during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Junichi Sasai was born on February 13, 1918, in Tokyo.

He was the son of a captain of the Japanese Imperial Navy, and even in his youth, Sasai was destined to enter the navy.

Sasai's childhood was marked by poor health, and he was always mobbed by his classmates.

Physical exercises like judo, together with a balanced diet, improved his health.

Sasai attended Tokyo Municipal High School No. 1.

He went on to the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima, an island off the coast of Kure, Hiroshima.

Junichi Sasai held a black belt in judo and competed in wrestling.

In his early days at the Eta Jima Academy, he earned the nickname "gamecock" because of his stamina and vehemence for life.

Saburō Sakai, leading the second section in Sasai's squadron, was an experienced aviator, having flown aerial combat since early in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938 and 1939.

Sasai learned the art of aerial combat from the experienced Sakai and the two of them became a great team.

Sasai became an ace pilot and owed his life and much of his development as a fighter pilot to Sakai.

Sasai was considered an exceptional officer by his subordinates, mainly for his compassionate qualities.

In private, he ridiculed the inflexibility and austerity of the navy caste system.

Such disdain was demonstrated amply by the level of personal interest he took in his NCO subordinates.

The Japanese caste system was strict, but Sasai cared more for his fliers.

Saburō Sakai, flying as a warrant officer and section leader in Sasai's squadron, said in an interview:

"The navy had a very rigid hierarchy and caste system; officers never made friends with enlisted men, it was not allowed. But Sasai was a different kind of officer.

...

Ohta, Nishizawa and I joined our fighters wingtip to wingtip and did three perfect consecutive loops over the field following a dogfight.

After we landed we were very proud of ourselves.

Then we had a message that the commander at Moresby had sent a letter to our commander, Sasai, describing our stunt, and inviting us back.

Sasai chewed us out and threatened us with grounding if we ever did that again.

He was just following procedure, but we knew he was secretly proud of us."

On April 11, Lieutenant Sasai led nine Zeros scouting over Moresby in three "V" formations.

The Japanese had not adopted the finger-four formation that had become common practice in Europe, instead flying in sections of three planes in a staggered formation, the second plane about one hundred yards behind and above the leader and the third on the other side another hundred yards further away, both wingmen weaving as they kept watch for enemy aircraft.

After graduating from the 67th Naval Academy Class (ranking 152 out of 248 Cadets) and being appointed an ensign (少尉) in 1939, Sasai enrolled in the 35th Aviation Student Course.

Sixteen days later, Sasai shot down a Curtiss P-40E of 17th Squadron with the machine guns of his Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

He finished his naval aviation training in November 1941 and became a fighter pilot.

Sasai's brother-in-law, Lieutenant Commander Yoshio Tashiro, was also a naval aviator, serving as a flying boat commander.

On December 10, 1941, Ensign Sasai, as a member of the Tainan Air Group, which would become one of the Navy's premier fighter units, participated in the Pacific War's opening actions in the Philippines during the attack on Luzon, but he was forced to abort the mission due to engine trouble.

On February 2, 1942, Sasai got his first aerial kill in the Dutch East Indies at Maospati airfield, Java, when he downed a Dutch Brewster Buffalo.

The Tainan Kōkūtai (Air Group) was transferred to Lae on Papua New Guinea in March 1942, reorganizing with new officers.

Among his Tainan equals, Sasai was known as "Flying Tiger", a reference to the tiger-head belt buckle he wore always, a gift from his father.

In his lodgings, he kept an image of legendary Japanese war hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

Already a lieutenant (j.g.), Sasai became Buntaicho (squadron leader), leading the 3rd Chutai (squadron), consisting of six planes, divided in two Shotai's (sections).

Each squadron leader's Zero was recognisable by two light blue diagonal stripes across its fuselage, while each section leader's bore one.

On each tail, there was a black letter V, the Tainan Group identifier, followed by a three-digit number in the 100s series identifying each aircraft.

Sasai was now flying with experienced pilots in his squadron, including Saburō Sakai, Enji Kakimoto and Toshio Ohta.