B-29 Hunters of the JAAF

KOJI TAKAKI can remember seeing B-29s and other military aircraft in the skies over Saeki City in Oita Prefecture, East Kyushu, during his primary school years. Taught to speak English when still a student, he has been an avid collector of literature on wartime Japanese military aviation since the late 1950s. Now retired after a long career in the textiles industry, Takaki is working on several book projects with Henry Sakaida. This is his first volume for Osprey. A third generation Japanese American (Sansei), Henry Sakaida has spent much of his life researching the shadowy history of the Japanese fighter pilot. His eye for detail and exhaustive research has led to him being given access to much archive material by former aces who have remained silent since the end of the war. Tom Tullis has illustrated a number of books in both the Aces and Combat Aircraft series, and was the first artist to produce material for Osprey Aviation electronically. Jim Laurier graduated with honours from the Paiers School of Art, Connecticut and has worked as a freelance illustrator ever since. Jim is a Fellow of the American Society of Aviation Artists, the New York Society of Illustrators and the American Fighter Aces Association.