Almost 70 years after it was flown by the Imperial Japanese Navy, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane is being prepared to once again take to the skies of Japan to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II.
Often referred to as the Reisen, or Zero, the plane, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and seeing service from 1940 to 1945, was brought back to Japan last September from the United States where it had been stored.
Currently displayed at the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture, it has been reassembled and its engine tested on July 7 with help from U.S. Federal Aviation Administration engineers.