About the book: 2000 / Among the Allies, a pilot who shot down five or more enemy aircraft received the title of "ace", publicity in the press, various awards, could apply for an extraordinary promotion in rank. The Japanese adopted many Western, primarily European, aviation traditions, but Eastern culture rejected the individualism inherent in the West. From early childhood, Japanese children were instilled with the skills of collectivism and the desire not to stand out from the rest. Both in the pre-war and during the war years, instructors in flight schools taught a group of cadets as a whole, without singling out any of them. The concept of “individual approach” was absent as such. In combat units, the entire unit also received incentives or penalties, with rare exceptions. During the war in China, in the first months of the war in the Pacific, some units began to keep records of aircraft shot down by individual pilots. The high command approved this practice only in 1943. On the other hand, in certain units they categorically refused to single out individual pilots from others: victory in air combat is the fruit of collective efforts! Note: A complete set of illustrations, arranged as in a printed publication, captions to the illustrations text.