IJNAF aircraft and Oita - video

Another NARA video, in three parts, spotted in the "Showakan Digital Archive" by "Shu". For the full video check HERE.

The first video we posted begins with views of two destroyed hangars.

The location is Oita, in Kyushu, and the installations belonged to the 12 Navy Aviation Arsenal. 

The US soldier on the right driving a buldozer is collecting pieces of scrap metal including aircraft parts in big piles under these hangars. Meanwhile, other hangars in the background look to be in pretty pristine condition.

A mangled Zero cockpit.

Different propellers. 

And quite interestingly...

....a G4M "Betty" Model 22 tail.

The tail marking is rather unusual with the numbers up and down and the double hyphens. It was flown by the 951Ku. More about the unit: here and here.

According to "Betty" expert, "Sato-san", there are two possibilities regarding the significance of the  "-1-" in the tail marking: 1) the unit's main base of operations was Omura but it also had detachments in Korea, Shanghai and elsewhere. So, maybe the number represented one of these branches of the unit. For example, 1 for Omura, 2 for Korea etc. 2) The unit was mainly assigned to anti-submarine duties and had small sub-units equipped with various aircraft types, like floatplanes, Kyushu Q1W "Tokai", "Betty" and other types. So, perhaps the number indicated these various sub-units.

Yet another possibility is that it simply indicated the various chutai.

The particular aircraft was possibly brought to the 12 Aviation Arsenal either to be fixed or to be used as spare parts.  

Of particular interest is the red-brown primer and the green paint.

Another photo of the same aircraft, from a different angle, can be found in Osprey's "Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko...." p.95. 

Moving on, the second video features a number of concrete hangars, called "entaigo" in Japanese.

These were located in Oita airfield near the installations of the 12th Aviation Arsenal.

The 1945 map below shows exactly where the airfield with the two crossing runways was. 

The hangars in the stills were in number #3 in the map, and the 12th Aviation Arsenal is shown as the many small boxes (buildings) on the left side of the map, across the airfield.

This is how the area looks today in google map.

The Oita air base was established in December 1938, with the organization of the Oita Kokutai equipped with carrier fighters and attackers. On November 15, 1940, it was redesignated as a training kokutai but on March 15, 1944, the unit was disbanded and transferred to Tsukuba. 

Following this, a number of units were based in the airfield, like the 141Ku, the 331Ku and the 732Ku, under the 5th Air Fleet. 

The third video features completely wrecked aircraft.

A few Mitsubishi K3M "Pine" crew trainers, one with "オタ" tail marking.

Compare in the still below, the green of the Zero in the foreground and the yellow of its IFF stripe, with the green of the "Pine" and the trainer orange showing under the green camo.

Another mess of aircraft parts. Note the clearly blue fabric-covered ailerons and compare them with the green of the aircraft fuselage; maybe a Yokosuka D4Y "Suisei"?

Did this engine with the 4-blade propeller belong to a "Betty"?

How about this mysterious fuselage?

The very roughly treated fuselage in the foreground used to be a "Willow".

Note the NMF "Betty" nacelle behind it with the landing gear up in the sky.

Note the green of the camo in the rear fuselage and tail section of this wreck; maybe a "Shiden"...

...and the yellow of the IFF stripe in the foreground.

A "Kate" maybe?

Now things get more interesting. 

The high horizontal stabilizer and the tail wheel design indicate it's a Yokosuka P1Y "Ginga". How do you like the green of the camo? 

The tail marking is clearly visible, "762-12" and it shows that it belonged to the 762 Kokutai. More about the unit, here. Again, note the yellow-white numbers. Is there a yellow underline?

Now things get even more interesting.

Note the aircraft with the tail marking "24 222" in the background. Note that the number "24(?) is repeated on the fuselage hinomaru. 

Probably it belonged to the 524 Kokutai, a not-so-famous unit equipped with "Ginga". It was established on March 15, 1944, as a land-bomber unit, at Toyohashi Airfield, Aichi Prefecture but was later based in Misawa Airfield, Aomori Prefecture. It was nicknamed "Akebono Butai" (Daybreak Unit) and was to have as many as 48 aircraft in its strength. Actually, less than ten were operational. It was reorganized as 405 Attack Hikotai and was ordered to relocate to Miyazaki in Kyushu in early August 1944 but was only able to advance to Izumi, Kagoshima, by October 1944.

That's all I could find about the unit. No information beyond October 1944.

Moving on, another interesting fuselage. Can you identify the type?

Another 762Ku "Ginga" in much better condition. Tail marking, "762-36"?,  in white. Note the antennae on the fuselage side.

More wrecks. A "Judy" next to the above-mentioned 762Ku "Ginga". Note the difference in the green camo. Particularly intriguing are the markings on the "Ginga" flap.

Another mess of different aircraft wrecks with different greens.

A badly burned "Suisei" (Judy).

Probably another "Ginga" with the same flap markings.

And finally a "Val".

The video was shot by "Harry" Mimura from Toho.

Mimura Akira according to the Japanese Wikipedia:

"(January 6, 1901 - December 23, 1985) was a cinematographer and film director. He is one of the founders of Japanese film cameraman. He is known abroad as Harry Mimura.

His father was Rear Admiral Kinzaburo Mimura, who served as the captain of the battleship Kirishima and the battleship Hyuga. He as born in Etajima-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture (now Etajima-shi). He graduated from Zushi Kaisei Junior High School in 1919 and went to the United States in September of the same year. After attending school in Seattle, he graduated from Nicholassen College Preparatory Course in Chicago in 1924. It is said that he decided to enter the film industry with the desire to ``become a cameraman and show Americans the true face of Japan'' in order to eradicate the anti-Japanese movement that was spreading across the United States.

In 1925, he studied film at the New York College of Photography, and from 1929 to 1934, he became the first Japanese to join the New York Photographers Union. At that time, it was extremely difficult for non-citizen Asians and Japanese to join the union. He worked as an assistant and learned photography techniques. He worked in "Hell's Angels" directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jean Harlow, "Trespasser" directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Gloria Swanson and took part in the shooting of about 60 films.

In 1934, he returned to Japan after he lost his job due to a union strike. In the same year, he joined PCL (the predecessor of Toho) as a cinematographer capable of using the new Mitchell camera. He was highly acclaimed for his new lighting methods and close-up shots that made actresses look beautiful. In 1936, when Toho was established, he became an exclusive photographer, but he was in charge of shooting many masterpieces and established a solid position as a top cameraman. 

He became popular for taking beautiful pictures of actresses, and there were many actresses who wanted Harry to take their pictures. 　　

He reported on the organization and movement of cinematographers in the American film industry and worked with Michio Aoikawa and Eiji Tsuburaya to organize a group of cinematographers in Japan.

In 1946, at the request of the Occupation Forces' Strategic Bombing Survey Team, he was the only Japanese to participate in the film crew of the U.S. Army after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, his hometown, and captured the unprecedented devastation in color film."

I would finally like to add that he was the photographer in the movie "Hawai Mare Oki Kaisen" (The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya) and we can see him in the photo below, behind the camera, during the shooting of the movie, in the machine gunner's position in a "Kate". 

He was also the photographer in the movie "Kato Hayabusa Sentotai".