The Formidable Japanese Air Force

Japanese Zero

The Japanese Zero was the workhorse of the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service. Built by Mitsubishi, it was designed to be a carrier-based fighter-bomber plane and was one of the first Japanese warplanes to see action in the Pacific. 

Japanese Navy pilots prepare a ditch around their airbase. Pictured here are crewman stationed in Formosa, Taiwan. 

Tora! Tora! Tora!

Japanese planes composing the first wave of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese Zero was a versatile fighter plane converted to assume the role of a fighter-bomber.