Salvaged from the Papua New Guinean jungle, a restored World War II Japanese Zero fighter has taken to the skies over the land that gave birth to the once-feared warplane.
The aircraft -- emblazoned with tell-tale rising sun symbols -- is one of just a few airworthy Zero fighters left in the world, nearly eight decades after they struck fear into the hearts of Allied pilots.
The plane flew near Tokyo this month, watched by businessman and aviation buff Masahide Ishizuka who bought the plane for 350 million yen ($3.1 million) in 2008.
The badly damaged aircraft was originally found in the 1970s in dense jungle where it had crashed decades earlier. It later ended up in the United States -- Japan's chief World War II adversary.
Developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Zero planes took part in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, while "kamikaze" suicide pilots crashed them into US ships in the later stages of the war.
There are believed to be just four airworthy Zero fighters in the world today -- more than 10,000 were made in all.
