This book is an Imperial Japanese Navy aviation reader published in 1943 (Showa 18),

specifically written for boys aspiring to join the Yokaren (Naval Airman Preparatory Course).

By 1943, Japan was facing severe losses of experienced pilots, and the Navy urgently expanded early aviation education programs.

This book was part of that effort — designed not merely as a technical manual, but as an ideological and motivational guide for future naval aviators.

The contents explain:

• The importance of air superiority and sea control
• The role of naval aviation and aircraft carriers
• Characteristics of naval air combat
• The ideal mindset and mission of a naval airman

Importantly, this exact generation of Yokaren applicants later became the core human pool of the Kamikaze (Special Attack) units, due to shortened training periods and desperate wartime conditions in 1944–1945.

For this reason, the book represents a pre-Kamikaze ideological stage —

a moment when aviation was still presented as skill, honor, and national duty,

before its transformation into one-way suicide missions.

Illustrations and photographs show:

• Japanese naval aircraft
• Aircraft carrier flight decks
• Sea-based aviation operations

This is not propaganda in isolation, but a primary historical document showing how wartime Japan shaped the minds of teenage aviators before the final phase of the war.

A valuable source for:

• WWII aviation history
• Yokaren studies
• Kamikaze research
• Military education and wartime ideology

Condition:

Aging, foxing, and stains consistent with wartime paper.

Complete and readable. Sold as-is.