Wings of the Rising Sun: Uncovering the Secrets of Japanese Fighters and Bombers of World War II

This book is probably the best currently available volume chronicling the efforts of the Pacific/CBI Theater air intelligence units. There is one weakness, several aircraft such as the Nakajima B5N “Kate” do not have pilot reports. Considering this aircraft was considered to be the worlds best torpedo bomber in 1941-’42 this is a rather large oversight. The Ki-61 and it’s Ki-100 cousin, no pilot reports. From a curiosity standpoint the Ki-115 Sabre has mention of several characteristics found by the evaluating pilots. These are all minor, minor quibbles that can be corrected in future additions. The book itself is well laid out with a chapter describing the intelligence units themselves, a chapter assessing Japanese weapons and then chapters dividing evaluations by type of aircraft. The bibliography was surprisingly brief and compromised of mostly older volumes. However, appendix B and the chapter footnotes are where the real treasure trove lie as they are original archival documents. A nice surprise were the color cockpit illustrations of the Ki-44, Ki-61, and Ki-84. There are not enough illustrations to warrant purchase of the book solely for the cockpit illustrations. Over all this book is well-illustrated with both interior and exterior photographs and will appeal to modelers and history types alike. Highly recommended without reservation.

Excellent item arrived right on schedule!

This is a excellent book on the Allied examinations and evaluations of wrecked and captured Japanese Army and Navy aircraft. It describes aircraft that were reconstructed and flown as well as aircraft that were examined but never reconstructed or repaired to the point where they could be flown for aerial performance evaluations. From these evlauations, the Americans, British, and Australians knew quite a lot about Japanese aircraft performance and aircraft industry design capabilities. The book is divided into chapters covering fighters (single and twin engined), bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, seaplanes and flying boats, transports, and rocket-powered and jet aircraft. There is an especially detailed account of the recovery and evaluation of the "Koga Zero" (A6M2) fighter from Akutan Island in the Aleutions. A minor criticsm I have is that in Chapter 1 "Allied Technical Air Intelligence Units" it states that one of the purposes of the TAI was to "... assess the war economy of the enemy." While there is much discussion on evaluation of the technical performance capabilities of the Japanese airplanes and the associated state of Japanese aircraft design, there is little interpretation or analysis of how this information was used to assess the state of the Japanese aircraft industry manufacturing and production capabilities. I guess what I was looking or hoping for was a one-chapter summary equivalent to the book "Arming the Luftwaffe: The German Aviation Industry in World War II" by Daniel Uziel (2012). An equivalent book on the Japanese aircraft industry apparently remains to be written.

A most enjoyable book with a superb photo assortment and well captioned. Photos are from many sources, good reproduction with many color pics of restored aircraft, as well as salvaged a/c before restoration. I highly recommend it, both to the casual and serious reader.

This is a great book if you are interested in Japanese aircraft of WW2 it is an allied perspective of captured Japanese aircraft . It is well written and has may pictures that have not been seen before

Lots of information about the various planes that flew and fought for Japan during WWII. Design philosophies, manufacturing capabilities, where and when used, and what the allies thought of the planes after capturing examples, both during and after the war. Some were obvious successes, some failures, some in between. I was especially interested in the stories of planes that only appeared in the last stages of the war. I really have enjoyed this book.

Nice to learn this side of history.

The reports provide excellent technical details and the pictures are great. I would have been interested in any details discovered about the engines in the aircraft but perhaps that is another book.

So little seems published in English on Japanese aircraft - this is a good addition.

Great book. Well researched and well written. Good value for money.

An excellent piece of work. A very thorough compendium, analysis, history, inclusion of relevant contextual information, and great photographs of Japanese WW II aircraft.

鹵獲された日本軍機の報告書や鹵獲の背景、コラムに逸話（終戦後紫電改がF4U振り切った話とか） などが書いてありますが、報告書じたいが苦労せず参照できるものも多く わざわざ購入する価値を感じません。英語のこの本を見つけ出して内容に興味を持つような人間は 自力で当時の報告書を見つけ出しているのではないでしょうか 情報の取捨選択にも疑問があり、報告書に添付されている写真が本には載っていないので 何を意図しているのか分かりにくくなっているなどは不親切です。 著者自身の書いたのであろう文章についても機械構造について理解できてないんだろうなあ と思わせる部分がいくつかあり、結果として理解を妨げるものになっている部分すらあります。 先行するレビューでは海外の人は高評価、日本の人は低評価ですが 海外の人は地元の本屋で気軽に手に取って労せずして読めるし、そこに探さないと見つからない 一次資料が載っているとなればカジュアルな層には受ける 日本人だとこの本に興味持つ人間はそもそもこの本の情報くらいは自力で探して見つけてる カジュアルじゃない層だからだと思います。

捕獲された日本機に関する本です。内容は、捕獲機の略歴とテスト結果などで目新しい写真もあります。 しかし、明らかな間違いが散見されます。読み物として楽しむ場合は良いのですが、なにか調べ物の資料として参考にするには、問題があります。ただし、リファレンスはしっかりしていますから、その点は価値があると思います。