Hiroyoshi Nishizawa Lieutenant Junior Grade was an ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II . It is possible that Nishizawa was the most successful Japanese fighter ace of the war ; he personally claimed to have had 87 aerial victories at the time of his death . Some uncertainty is due to the Japanese habit of recording victories for pilots ' units , rather than the individual , after 1941 , as well as the often wildly - exaggerated claims of aerial kills that were frequently accepted . Some sources credit Nishizawa with over 100 victories . Early life . Hiroyoshi Nishizawa was born in a mountain village in the Nagano Prefecture , the fifth son of Mikiji and Miyoshi Nishizawa . His father was the manager of a " sake " brewery . Hiroyoshi graduated from higher elementary school and then began to work in a textile factory . In June 1936 , a poster caught his eye , an appeal for volunteers to join the " Yokaren " ( flight reserve enlistee training program ) . Hiroyoshi applied and qualified as a student pilot in Class " Otsu " No . 7 of the Japanese Navy Air Force ( JNAF ) . He completed his flight training course in March 1939 , graduating 16th out of a class of 71 . Before the war , he served with the Oita , Omura and Suzuka " Kōkūtai " ( air groups / wings ) . In October 1941 , he was transferred to the Chitose Kōkūtai , with the rank of petty officer 1st class . World War II . New Guinea . After the outbreak of war with the Allies , Nishizawa ' s squadron ( " chutai " ) from the Chitose Air Group , then flying the obsolete Mitsubishi A5M , moved to Vunakanau airfield on the newly taken island of New Britain . The squadron received its first Mitsubishi Zeros ( A6M2 , Model 21 ) the same week . On 3 February , Nishizawa , still flying an obsolete A5M , claimed his first aerial kill of the war , a PBY Catalina ; historians have established , however , that the plane was only damaged and managed to return to base . On 10 February , Nishizawa ' s squadron was transferred to the newly formed 4th Air Group . As new Zeros became available , Nishizawa was assigned an A6M2 bearing the tail code F - 108 . On 1 April , Nishizawa ' s squadron was transferred to Lae , New Guinea and assigned to the Tainan Air Group . There he flew with aces Saburō Sakai and Toshio Ōta in a " chutai " ( squadron ) led by Junichi Sasai . Sakai described his friend Nishizawa as about 5 - foot - 8 , in weight , pale and gaunt , suffering constantly from malaria and tropical skin diseases . Accomplished at judo , his squadron mates , who nicknamed him the " Devil , " considered him a reserved , taciturn loner . Of his performance in the air , Sakai , himself one of Japan ' s leading aerial aces , wrote , " Never have I seen a man with a fighter plane do what Nishizawa would do with his Zero . His aerobatics were all at once breathtaking , brilliant , totally unpredictable , impossible , and heart - stirring to witness . " They often clashed with United States Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force fighters operating from Port Moresby . Nishizawa ' s first confirmable solo kill , of a USAAF P - 39 Airacobra , was on 11 April . He claimed six more kills in a 72 - hour period from 1 – 3 May , making him a confirmed fighter ace . Nishizawa was a member of the famed " Cleanup Trio " with Saburō Sakai and Toshio Ōta . In the night of 16 May , Nishizawa , Sakai and Ōta were listening at the lounge room to a broadcast of an Australian radio program , when Nishizawa recognized the eerie " Danse Macabre " of the French composer , pianist and organist Camille Saint - Saëns . Nishizawa , thinking about this mysterious skeleton dance , now suddenly had a crazy idea : " you know the mission tomorrow at Port Moresby ? Why don ' t we perform a little show , a " dance of death " of our own ? We do a few demonstration loops right over the enemy airfield , this should drive them crazy on the ground . " On May 17 , Lieutenant Commander Tadashi " Shosa " Nakajima led the " Tainan " " Ku " on a mission to Port Moresby , with Sakai and Nishizawa as his wingmen . As the Japanese formation re - formed for the return flight , Sakai signaled Nakajima , that he was going after an enemy aircraft and peeled off . Minutes later , Sakai was over Port Moresby again , to keep his rendezvous with Nishizawa and Ōta . The trio now performed aerobatics , three tight loops in close formation . After that , a jubilant Nishizawa indicated that he wanted to repeat the performance . Diving to , the three Zeros did three more loops , still without any AA fire from the ground . They headed then back to Lae , arriving 20 minutes after the rest of the " kokutai " . At about 21 : 00 , Lieutenant Junichi Sasai wanted them in his office , immediately . When they arrived , Sasai held up a letter . " Do you know where I got this thing ? " he shouted . " No ? I ' ll tell you , you fools ; it was dropped on this base a few minutes ago , by an enemy intruder ! " The letter , written in English , said : To the Lae Commander : " We were much impressed with those three pilots who visited us today , and we all liked the loops they flew over our field . It was quite an exhibition . We would appreciate it if the same pilots returned here once again , each wearing a green muffler around his neck . We ' re sorry we could not give them better attention on their last trip , but we will see to it that the next time they will receive an all - out welcome from us . " Nishizawa , Sakai and Ōta stood at stiff attention and tried to suppress laughing out loud , while Lieutenant Sasai dressed them down over their " idiotic behavior " and prohibited them from staging any more aerobatic shows over enemy airfields . The Tainan " Kokutai ' s " three leading aces secretly agreed , that the aerial choreography had been worth it . Guadalcanal . In early August 1942 , the air group moved to Rabaul , immediately operating against the US forces on Guadalcanal . In the first clash on 7 August , Nishizawa claimed six F4F Wildcat s ( historians have confirmed two kills ) . On 8 August 1942 , Saburō Sakai , Nishizawa ' s closest friend , was severely injured in combat with U . S . Navy TBM Avenger torpedo bombers . Nishizawa noticed that Sakai was missing and went into a mad rage , he searched the area , both for signs of Sakai and for Americans to fight , presumably even if he had to ram them . Eventually , he cooled off and returned to Lakunai . Later , to everyone ' s amazement , the seriously wounded Sakai arrived . Struck across his head by a bullet , covered with blood and blind in one eye , he returned to base with his damaged Zero , after a four - hour , 47 - minute flight over . Nishizawa , Lieutenant Sasai and Toshio Ōta transported the obstinate but unconscious Sakai to the hospital . In frustrated concern Nishizawa physically removed the waiting driver and personally drove Sakai , as quickly but as gently as possible , to the surgeon . Saburō Sakai was evacuated to Japan on 12 August . The extended conflict over Guadalcanal was costly for Nishizawa ' s air group ( renamed as the 251st in November ) as American aircraft and tactics improved : Sasai ( with 27 victories ) was shot down and killed by Captain Marion E . Carl on August 26 , and Ōta ( 34 kills ) was killed on October 21 . Return to Japan . In mid - November , the 21st was recalled to Toyohashi air base in Japan to replace its losses , with the ten surviving pilots all being made instructors , including Nishizawa . Nishizawa is believed to have had around forty full or partial aerial victories by this time ( some sources claim 54 ) . Nishizawa , while staying in Japan , visited Saburō Sakai , who was still recuperating in the Yokosuka hospital . Nishizawa complained to Sakai of his new duty as an instructor : " Saburō , can you picture me running around in a rickety old biplane , teaching some fool youngster how to bank and turn , and how to keep his pants dry ? " Nishizawa also ascribed the loss of most of their comrade pilots to the ever increasing material advantage of the allied forces , the improved U . S . aircraft and tactics . " It ' s not as you remember , Saburō , " he said . " There was nothing I could do . There were just too many enemy planes , just too many . " Even so , Nishizawa could not wait to return to combat . " I want a fighter under my hands again , " he said . " I simply have to get back into action . Staying home in Japan is killing me . " Nishizawa publicly chafed at the months of inaction in Japan . He and the 251st returned to Rabaul in May 1943 . In June 1943 , Nishizawa ' s achievements were honored by a gift from the commander of the 11th Air Fleet , Vice Admiral Jin ' ichi Kusaka . Nishizawa received a military sword inscribed " Buko Batsugun " ( " For Conspicuous Military Valor " ) . He was then transferred to the 253rd Air Group on New Britain in September . In November , he was promoted to warrant officer and re - assigned to training duties in Japan with the Oita Air Group . In February 1944 , he joined the 203rd Air Group operating from the Kurile Islands , away from heavy action . Philippines campaign . In October , however , the 203rd was transferred to Luzon . Nishizawa and four others were detached to a smaller airfield on Cebu . On 25 October , he led the fighter escort consisting of four A6M5s , flown by Nishizawa , Misao Sugawa , Shingo Honda and Ryoji Baba for the first major " kamikaze " attack of the war . Target for this attack was V . Adm . Clifton Sprague ' s " Taffy 3 " task force , defending the landings in the Battle of Leyte Gulf . The " kamikaze " volunteers , led by Lieutenant Yukio Seki , piloted five bomb - armed A6M2 Model 21 Zeros , each carrying a bomb . They crash - dived their planes deliberately into U . S . warships in the first official " kamikaze " attack of the Tokkōtai suicide squadron " Shikishima " . They were the first " kamikazes " to sink an enemy ship . The attack was very successful , as four of the five " kamikazes " struck their targets , and inflicted heavy damage . An A6M2 likely flown by Lt . Yukio Seki crashed onto the flight deck of the escort carrier at 10 : 53 . The Zero ' s bomb exploded on the portside hangar deck , resulting in a fire and secondary explosions which soon detonated torpedoes and the bomb magazine of " St . Lo " . The escort carrier sank half an hour later , 126 men were lost in action . Lieutenant Yukio Seki is recorded as saying before the mission : " Japan ' s future is bleak if it is forced to kill one of its best pilots . I am not going on this mission for the Emperor or for the Empire . . . I am going because I was ordered to ! " While flying fighter escort to this mission , Nishizawa records his 86th and 87th victories ( both F6F Hellcat s ) , the final aerial victories of his career . Nishizawa had a premonition during the flight , he saw in a vision his own death . Nishizawa reported the sortie ' s success to Commander Nakajima after returning to base . He then volunteered to take part in the next day ' s " Tokkōtai " " kamikaze " mission . He was refused . Instead , Nishizawa ' s A6M5 Zero was armed with a bomb and flown by Naval Air Pilot 1st Class Tomisaku Katsumata . A less experienced pilot , he nevertheless dove into the escort carrier off Surigao . Katsumata crashed on " Suwanee " s flight deck and careened into a torpedo bomber which had just been recovered . The two planes erupted upon contact as did nine other planes on her flight deck . Although the ship was not sunk , she burned for several hours , and 85 of her crewmen were killed , 58 were missing and 102 wounded . Death . The following day , his own Zero having been destroyed , Nishizawa and other pilots of the 201st " Kokutai " boarded a Nakajima Ki - 49 " Donryu " ( " Helen " ) transport plane and left Mabalacat on Cebu in the morning , to ferry replacement Zeros from Clark Field on Luzon . Over Calapan on Mindoro Island , the Ki - 49 transport was attacked by two F6F Hellcats of VF - 14 squadron from the fleet carrier and was shot down in flames . Nishizawa died as a passenger , probably the victim of Lt . j . g . Harold P . Newell , who was credited with a " Helen " northeast of Mindoro that morning . Upon learning of Nishizawa ' s death , the commander of the Combined Fleet , Admiral Soemu Toyoda , honored Nishizawa with a mention in an all - units bulletin and posthumously promoted him to the rank of lieutenant junior - grade . Nishizawa was also given the posthumous name " Bukai - in Kohan Giko Kyoshi " , a Zen Buddhist phrase that translates : " " In the ocean of the military , reflective of all distinguished pilots , an honored Buddhist person . " " Because of the confusion towards the end of the Pacific war , the bulletin ' s publication was delayed and funeral services were not held until December 2 , 1947 .