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Description
The supersonic Lockheed F-104 Starfighter entered service in 1958, and was sold to about twenty countries, though the circumstances under which it was sold are quite corrupt. Lockheed bribed foreign governments to buy the Starfighter, which ended up hurting the company when the Starfighter demonstrated its propensity for crashing. In Japan, this led to one of the stranger chapters in modern Japanese history, which I shall summarize here as best as I can.

Lockheed hired right-wing nationalist crime boss Yoshio Kodama, who had smuggled guns and drugs during World War II, as an intermediary for "negotiations" with Japan. Kodama bribed everyone from the Prime Minister to the airline executives, resulting in the JASDF buying the Starfighter and the airlines buying the L-1011 Tristar jetliner. Kodama's right-wing nationalist movement became very disillusioned after the bribery was revealed to the public. One of these followers was male porn star Mitsuyasu Maeno, who performed a kamikaze attack on Kodama's house in 1976, dying in the crash but failing to kill the crime lord.

An F-104J is on display at Hamamatsu Air Park near the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) base there. As far as I can tell given my relative illiteracy, the placard in front of the airplane makes little reference to its shady history, instead describing the airplane's performance and armament.

Description
The supersonic Lockheed F-104 Starfighter entered service in 1958, and was sold to about twenty countries, though the circumstances under which it was sold are quite corrupt. Lockheed bribed foreign governments to buy the Starfighter, which ended up hurting the company when the Starfighter demonstrated its propensity for crashing. In Japan, this led to one of the stranger chapters in modern Japanese history, which I shall summarize here as best as I can.

Lockheed hired right-wing nationalist crime boss Yoshio Kodama, who had smuggled guns and drugs during World War II, as an intermediary for "negotiations" with Japan. Kodama bribed everyone from the Prime Minister to the airline executives, resulting in the JASDF buying the Starfighter and the airlines buying the L-1011 Tristar jetliner. Kodama's right-wing nationalist movement became very disillusioned after the bribery was revealed to the public. One of these followers was male porn star Mitsuyasu Maeno, who performed a kamikaze attack on Kodama's house in 1976, dying in the crash but failing to kill the crime lord.

An F-104J is on display at Hamamatsu Air Park near the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) base there. As far as I can tell given my relative illiteracy, the placard in front of the airplane makes little reference to its shady history, instead describing the airplane's performance and armament.