The Japanese Interceptor Built To Destroy Demons: Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki

In this video, we take a look at the Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki, a mid-to-late World War II fighter and interceptor from Imperial Japan. We first talk, in very broad strokes, about how and why things like religion and myth are born and spread. We also talk about the expansion of religion and myths through smaller stories and characters, and we focus in on the Japanese and Chinese deity known as "Zhong Kui" or "Shoki", its story, and what it means to East Asian religion and myth. We then switch over to the plane granted the name of Shoki in the Ki-44.

We talk about the expansion and modernizing of Japan's military forces, which resulted in the Ki-44, along with planes like the Ki-43 and J2M. We talk about how the Ki-44 was much different than your typical Japanese fighter and why that was. We talk about the relatively smooth testing of the Ki-44, and its bumpier transition into production. We talk about its relatively solid performance, its late-war fall-off, and we end on the question of whether or not the demon-hunting plane managed to rid Japan of "demons".