Pilots who flew with him were astonished by
his flying abilities: nobody could throw a Zero
around the sky—almost as if at will—as
Nishizawa did. His “demonic” flying style led to
the unenviable nickname of “the Devil.” To
Sakai, who knew him well, it appeared that
reclusive Nishizawa found peace of mind only
while fighting. For this reason, he loudly
protested his transfer to a training unit in Octo-
ber 1943.
The attrition of combat upon veteran Japa-
nese pilots had been extremely heavy, and
veterans like Nishizawa were culled from
combat units to impart their skill upon
novices. Although promoted to warrant offi-
cer, Nishizawa deplored the assignment, and
his performance was barely tolerable. He
complained bitterly to Sakai, then recuperat-
ing at home, declaring, “Can you picture me in
a rickety old biplane, teaching some fool
youngster how to bank and turn, and how to
keep his pants dry?” Nishizawa was therefore
relieved when a transfer to the 201st Kokutai
arrived in the fall of 1944.
Nishizawa was next stationed in the Philip-
pines, soon to be the target of an American in-
vasion. To counter this the Japanese resorted
to desperate measures, including launching
the first kamikaze (suicide) attacks on U.S.
Navy vessels. On October 24, 1944, Nishizawa
escorted six bomb-laden Zeroson their run,
claiming two Grumman F6F Hellcats en
route. His fine flying enabled the kamikazes to
pierce American defenses, and they sank the
escort carrier USS Saint-Lô. However,
Nishizawa began experiencing premonitions
of death, and he solemnly requested a
kamikaze assignment for himself. Given his
status as the navy’s leading ace, this was im-
mediately denied. But on October 26, 1944,
the sullen pilot and several comrades boarded
a Nakajima Ki 49 Donryubomber at Cebu and
headed for Malacat. Their mission was to
ferry back replacement Zero fighters sta-
tioned there. En route, the lumbering bomber
was intercepted by two F6Fs of VF-14 (USS
Wasp), which sent it down in flames. Thus
ended the career of “the Devil,” who was
posthumously promoted two ranks to lieu-
tenant, junior grade. Although ascribed by
various sources to have as many as 200 aerial
victories, the modern consensus has pared
Nishizawa’s tally back to 86—still an impres-
sive achievement. In the words of his friend
Sakai, “He was a genius in the air. I tutored
him in dogfighting and he went on to become
a great veteran fighter pilot.”Bibliography
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