Saburo Sakai's Leica (famous fighter pilot from World War II)

[TXGR]

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Saburo Sakai was a famous Imperial Japanese Navy fighter pilot in World War II. According to his autobiography (pg 61 of book, pg 71 of pdf, Samurai! by Saburo Sakai) he bought a Leica camera around October/November 1940 with a “Sonar[sic] 2.0 lens.” He explained the camera was something, "I'd wanted for years." 

Quote

To me the Leica was a beautiful and precision-built gem. I had a special use for this particular type of camera; our fighter planes did not carry the automatic cameras familiar to American pilots, and the Leica was particularly well suited to aerial photography from a cockpit.

To emphasize the importance of the purchase, he remarked, “this represented more than 3 months pay.”

In his later life, he gave many interviews, made speeches, and traveled. Is anyone aware of him ever mentioning which model Leica he bought?

Does anyone have any images of ads featuring Leica prices in 1940 Japan, like from the Asahi Camera photo magazine?

At the time, Sakai was a Petty Officer Second Class (二等兵曹) pilot. I am researching how much pay he received. I wonder if I deduct the cost of a Zeiss Sonnar, if the price differences will be enough to figure which model he likely purchased.

If I can figure out which model of Leica he possibly bought, I'd like to set one up something like what Saburo Sakai may have used. I have a few pre-war “Barnack Leicas” and a line on an early war Sonnar 5cm f/2 LTM lens. I realize this is all kind of a long shot just to imagine what somebody else might have used. 

Still, any help, ideas, or information will be greatly appreciated.

[nitroplait]

1 hour ago, TXGR said:

if the price differences will be enough to figure which model he likely purchased

It most likely will not. “More than…” and possibly an unknown number of accessories likely included in the purchase combined with perhaps a faded recollection of facts will make a guess unlikely to be true.

I hope you have luck finding an actual quote mentioning the model. 

[zeitz]

TXGR, are you located in Japan?  Is it possible that a public library, say in Tokyo, would have a complete collection of Asahi Camera?  Or perhaps have a complete collection on microfilm?  I have only been able to find limited issues of the magazine in the US.

6 hours ago, TXGR said:

Asahi Camera photo magazine?

 

[frame-it]

7 hours ago, TXGR said:

any help, ideas, or information will be greatly appreciated.

email leica-ginza@leica-camera.co.jp

they might be able to find out, at any rate they will probably have access to literature

and

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[Anbaric]

17 hours ago, TXGR said:

Saburo Sakai was a famous Imperial Japanese Navy fighter pilot in World War II. According to his autobiography (pg 61 of book, pg 71 of pdf, Samurai! by Saburo Sakai) he bought a Leica camera around October/November 1940 with a “Sonar[sic] 2.0 lens.” He explained the camera was something, "I'd wanted for years." 

To emphasize the importance of the purchase, he remarked, “this represented more than 3 months pay.”

I see it's claimed elsewhere that Sakai had to sell his Leica after the war, so it was presumably not preserved. I imagine availability of Leicas in Japan was pretty limited in 1940. German shipping was blockaded on the outbreak of war, though I suppose other more circuitous routes may have been available. Leicas were apparently supplied to Japan for military purposes by some route, presumably including the then current IIIc model, though from the above Sakai made a private purchase. The last model that was internationally available before the war was the IIIb, but I don't think it's possible to use a figure like 'more than 3 months pay' to determine if this was the camera that Sakai bought. The IIIa would probably have fetched a similar price, and the III or even II not that much less. In one pre-war US price list (late 1938), a new chrome IIIb with Elmar was $150, and a chrome II with the same lens was $120. The text above also doesn't tell us if Sakai purchased used or new (if indeed there was any new stock available).

[TomB_tx]

According to Canon camera history, the effort to design a "Japanese Leica" began in frustration that in 1933 Leica prices put the cameras out of reach of Japanese people. The resulting "Kwanon" design became the Hansa Canon by 1940, and until 1947 these cameras used rangefinders and lenses made by Nippon Kogaku (later Nikon) with changes from the Leica design as Leica was patented in Japan in the 1930s. However production during the war and pre-war years was very limited. Quality in the early years of Canon could also be a reason Sakai required Leica, but by 1954 I  think Canon quality was better than Leica's IIIf.

[jed]

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10 hours ago, Anbaric said:

I* I imagine availability of Leicas in Japan was pretty limited in 1940. German shipping was blockaded on the outbreak of war, though I suppose other more circuitous routes may have been available. Leicas were apparently supplied to Japan for military purposes by some route, presumably including the then current IIIc model, 

Hello,

I own a Stepper IIIc deliverd on 19.09.1941 to city „ Tokyo"   according to Leica. 

[TXGR]

@frame-it - where did you get that text and photograph?

I emailed them, but I did not get a response yet. Thank you for the contact.

[TXGR]

I appreciate this is a Quixotic quest. He could have bought used (probably not too many used Leicas around, but certainly possible). Even if I found prices, there is no way to know if prices in Japan were uniform across the country or how they might have fluctuated month to month.

I mentioned on another thread, I saw a documentary in which they interviewed Albert Speer, and he said Germany continued to produce luxury goods for domestic consumption and export into 1943. Only in 1943 did Speer fully seize control of the economy and put all industry on a war footing making war material. They could no long ship directly, but they exported by way of Switzerland and then to Portugal, or by way of Sweden. Until June 1941, they could even use the Soviet Union.

@jed seems to have confirmed cameras were still making it to Japan at least to the start of the Pacific War.

@Anbaric where did you read he had to sell his Leica after the war? I know he was banned from pretty much all work for which he might have been qualified. Injured, barred from most work, he had to do whatever he could to survive. If there is an interview or book discussing this, maybe there are other clues there.

Thanks for all the replies.

[Anbaric]

On 6/16/2024 at 1:19 AM, TXGR said:

I appreciate this is a Quixotic quest. He could have bought used (probably not too many used Leicas around, but certainly possible). Even if I found prices, there is no way to know if prices in Japan were uniform across the country or how they might have fluctuated month to month.

Yes, I think there are too many uncertainties and the prices for the likely models aren't far enough apart to say anything definite.

I saw the claim about Sakai having to sell his Leica here:

https://tonetcarlo.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/winged-samurai/

I wonder where it is now, and if the current owner has any idea of its history?

[TXGR]

@Anbaric Thanks for the link. I'll buy Winged Samarai and see if it has more information or more sources.

Yes, it would be amazing to have that camera and be able to definitively authenticate it as Sakai's camera.

Edit: in looking at the site you linked, I know the person and his son who created the site. I met them in the Philippines many years ago, maybe around 2007 or 2008. He hasn't updated it in over 5 years, so I don't know what the status is, but it's quite odd for me to come across him in this way, again. Thanks.

Edited June 19, 2024 by TXGR

[jed]

Hello, did he own a Weltur Welta before the Leica ? Just got a Weltur from Japan and the case is marked as Sakai + military rank matching his. Maybe no relation !

[AndreasG]

Sakai is a common name in Japan, so, most probably no relation.

[andre_massena]

I'd love to see the pictures he took with his Leica. Would anyone here know where to find them?

(Please don't tell me to use Google, I did and it yielded nuttin')

Edited October 2, 2024 by andre_massena

[bobtodrick]

Well this brings back memories.   I've always had an interest in WWII (my father served on a corvette the North Atlantic) and read Samuria in the late 60's.  Even though he was a 'bad guy' it was a fascinating book.