In the years prior to Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Aircraft industry was generally thought to be incapable of producing original aircraft types that were in the same performance class as American and European aircraft of the era.  At the time, Japanese aircraft were thought to be inferior by international standards and for the most part copies of obsolete American and European designs.  The opening phases of World War II in the Pacific served to shatter this erroneous assumption as Japanese front-line aircraft were as good if not better than the Allied aircraft they faced.  This superiority ultimately faded as new Allied aircraft were deployed later in the war but in early 1942, Japanese Imperial Army aircraft were triumphant in almost every battle they fought in.  The book, Japanese Army Fighters (Part 1) is part of Arco Publishing Company's World War II Aircraft Fact Files which were originally published in the late 1970s.  This book is focused on the fighters operated by or developed to experimental status for the Imperial Army Air Service during World War II.  Included in this book are the following: 1) Approximately 71 vintage black and white photographs; 2) 12 black and white illustrations; 3) 4 cut-away full aircraft illustrations and 4) 2 full pages of color aircraft side profiles.  This book is 58 pages and is in excellent condition.  The authors are William Green and Gordon Swanborough.  Edition published in 1977.