Before and Beyond the Niihau Zero

by Syd Jones

On the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a battle damaged Japanese Zero landed on a remote, privately owned Hawaiian island. The Zero pilot survived for almost a week on what locals call the "Forbidden Island", assisted by a local worker while terrorizing the island's population before being killed by a native Hawaiian.Though the air raid on December 7, 1941 caught many by surprise, the island's owner had actually begun preparations against the attack years earlier, inspired by a remarkably accurate prophecy. The wreckage of the Japanese plane was abandoned on the island, but it's legacy was not forgotten. Sixty five years later the Zero and the story surrounding it became part of a new aviation museum in Hawaii. The Zero display brought to the forefront what happened the day of the attack, the conflict that ensued on the island in the days that followed, while unexpectedly generating a modern controversy in the process.In researching the existence of the "Niihau Zero" the author was allowed unprecedented access to the "Forbidden Island", was able to interview its owners and inhabitants, and arrange for the Zero artifacts to be placed on public display.This book contains original reports as well as documents never before published that give unique perspectives into one of the most curious and thought provoking events of WWII.

210 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2014

Reviews

[Jon Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a Kindle ebook that I purchased a month or so ago. Earlier this year I had read "The Niihau Incident" by author Beekman, a book I found unsatisfactory from several perspectives. Both that book and the one I am reviewing are concerned with events on the Hawaiian island of Niihau on the day of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and in the days immediately afterward. On December 7, 1941 a Japanese Zero aircraft that had participated in the attack crash landed on Niihau, a privately owned and very isolated island west of Kauai. The plane was damaged in the crash but was mostly intact. The Japanese pilot survived the crash landing and eventually began terrorizing the island's small population before he was finally killed by two of the islanders. Prior to his death, the pilot set fire to the aircraft's wreckage and a substantial portion of it was destroyed. This book covers these events and the follow up investigation where the US military interviewed the islanders, examined the airplane's burned wreckage, and removed its engine, propellor, and some other parts. What remained of the Zero sat exposed for many years and was further scavenged for metal parts by the islanders, until in the early 2000's the wreckage was removed and placed on display at the Pacific Aviation Museum located on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor (the museum has since been renamed the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum). The book's author participated in the survey and recovery of the aircraft's remains and in the development of the museum display. I found this book to be a much more straightforward and readable account of the events on the island in the days after the Pearl Harbor attack, and I found the description of the recovery of the aircraft's remains to be quite interesting. If you are interested in learning about a little known chapter of the Pearl Harbor attack, this is the best account I have found. Four out of five stars.

[Brent Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've done a lot of reading and research about WWII since I was a child, so I think that I know the subject fairly well. However, I had never heard the story about a Japanese Zero fighter that crashed on the Hawaiian island of Niihau.

The book filled in a historical niche that was interesting to read about. However, it is not a novel. It is a fact-based book about the incident that happened when the pilot crash-landed his plane and the work it took to try and bring the remains to the Pacific Aviation Museum (PAM) at Pearl Harbor. I actually visited the museum briefly a few years ago, but it was towards the end of a long day, so I don't recall a lot about it.

While the book was interesting, I would have liked more info in some areas and less info in others. One big area is that there are a lot of pictures that, to be honest, I didn't really care about as a reader as they seemed like filler.

I did appreciate the discussion about how the PAM had to go through some of the same issues that the Smithsonian had to when they did a reinterpreted history of the Enola Gay B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. I did a lot of research in that area, but didn't feel that the PAM was under the same pressure for its Niihau display.

The historical reports, typos and all, were interesting, but I think I would have had them as annexes and instead provided a summary of them in the text. By having them in the book in a different and harder to read font, my progress ground to almost a halt as I slogged my way through the text.

Bot overall, the book did a good job of filling in a small area of history that I wasn't aware of. If you have an interest in Pearl Harbor and the Hawaiian Islands you will likely enjoy this book. If you don't, it will be a much tougher read.

[Greg Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well researched and written. Retells the story of a Japanese Zero that crash landed on Hawaii's forbidden island, Niihau, hours after it had taken part in the bombing at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Fascinating history of the island, the island owners, its people and how they saw and were involved in this event, a live Japanese pilot on their island, that only lasted 7 days during that fateful December.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting little known story. Well researched. It was written more as a research project and defense of the exhibit at the Pacific Aviation Museum. But it was an interesting perspective on not only the attack on Pearl Harbor but some events before and the beginning of the museum. And it honors the Hawaiian people that live on Niihau to this day.

[Chris Heim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, though I think I'd only recommend it to someone who's very interested in Ni'ihau or WWII aviation. The actual story of interest is retold in a relatively short section of the book, and as more of a nonfiction retelling than any kind of narrative.