AIRCRAFT IN JAPAN, 1910-1945

FLYING MACHINES, both lighter- and heavier-than-air, came early to Japan. The country’s heritage of civil aircraft is wonderfully documented—in both Japanese and English—in one book in my collection. Another book, older and only in Japanese, is a good place to practice my Katakana, Hiragana and a modicum of Kanji. The historical photography is fascinating in both books.

Baron Miyahara and his World of Aircraft, a Photographic Memoir, Civil Aircraft 1920-1945, essays by Hiroshi Fujiwara et al, edited by Hiroyuki Nagashima, Japan Aeronautic Association, 2006. The book is listed at www.abebooks.com.

Baron Asahi Miyahara had two passions in life: aviation and photography. As a young man, he traveled to Britain where he majored in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Glasgow and, later, served an apprenticeship at Westland Aircraft before returning to Japan in 1931.

Baron Asahi Miyahara, 1904-1983, aircraft designer, photographer, founder in 1968 of the Japan Experimental Aircraft Association, counterpart of the EAA in the U.S.

Miyahara was also an enthusiastic photographer. This book contains several hundred photos from his collection together with essays covering civil aviation in Japan from 1910 through 1945. Topics are the early days, pioneer manufacturers, air races, aircraft used in news gathering, air transportation and a tribute to Baron Miyahara and his gliders.

Kishi No. 3 Tsurigi-Go, 1917. Its Japan-built engine was based on a Renault design. Image from Miyahara.

Early Japanese efforts were modified versions of foreign aircraft. Airframes were patterned after Curtiss, Wright and Farman designs. Many depended on foreign power, Curtiss, Hall-Scott, Hispano-Suiza, Liberty and the like.

Ito Sport Aircraft, c. 1922. Image from Miyahara.

The engine of one particular Ito Sport used cylinders taken from a Japanese-built Renault-derived engine originally powering a Maurice Farman-influened design. A crankcase and crankshaft were built in-house.

There’s a Vol. 2 of Baron Miyahara’s photos (see http://goo.gl/1HwSh). I must order it directly.

What with my meager knowledge of the language, my second reference on Japanese aircraft makes for an excellent puzzle. Unlike the Miyahara book, there’s no accompanying English commentary.

This history of aircraft in Japan covers from 1910 through 1945. It was published in 1957.

The book has 31 pages of aircraft photos, approximately four per page, 24 pages of accompanying notes and 36 pages of data on the aircraft. These first and last can be puzzled out with a bit of Katakana (the Japanese characters used for foreign words) and other linguistic detective work.

My first task was puzzling out Japanese dates, which are based on eras of the emperors. Briefly, the Meiji era ran from 1868 to 1912; the Taishou, until 1926; the Showa, until 1989. The current Heisei era began at that time. Identify the Kanji characters for each era, and the rest is easy. For instance, Meiji 43 is 1867 + 43 = 1910. Our current year is Heisei 25 (2013 – 1988 = 25).

These earliest photos in the book, dating from 1910, 1911 and 1913, show aircraft of foreign origin.

Below the balloon in the photo are a 1910 Henri Farman on the left and a 1911 Henri Farman on the right. Not identified below them are what looks like a Dumont Demoiselle on the left and a Blériot Type XI on the right. The 1913 aircraft is anybody’s guess, though its tail looks Farmanesque.

The historical find on this page is at the top, a Mitsubishi Ki-20, built under license from Junkers in 1933.

Mitsubishi built six Ki-20s, the Japanese equivalent of the German Junkers giant G.38 passenger liner. Below it is a 1932 fighter described completely in Kanji. I have a Kanji dictionary, but the complex-character stroke counts would be daunting. (This is part of Kanji dictionary ordering.)

The third aircraft, a 1932 Kawasaki KDA-5, though of German design, reminds me of a Curtiss racing plane (see www.wp.me/p2ETap-1cG). A speed of 335 km/h (208 mph) is cited. The fourth is a 1933 Mitsubishi Ki-1, identified as another German (“doitsu no”) derivative.

I must practice Japanese some more. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2013