A former Zero fighter pilot who shot down more than 60 Allied planes during World War II has called on Japan not to forget the horror of war and to make sure that it never becomes involved in a military conflict again.
Commenting Tuesday before the 55th anniversary of the end of the war on Aug. 15, Saburo Sakai said that war "never makes anybody happy or prosperous."
Sakai, who flew some 200 missions for the Imperial Japanese Navy and was seriously injured four times during the war, was speaking at a luncheon at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo.