Vintage magazine cover

"Hiko Shonen", February 1943

Vintage Magazine Cover

"Asahi Graph", August 26, 1942

The photo caption reads: "Navy Eagles are taking off at night to look for the enemy".

Vintage Magazine Cover

"Asahi Graph", July 22, 1942 issue

Vintage magazine cover

"Asahi Graph", February 25, 1942

Vintage magazine cover

"Asahi Graph", Februray 4, 1942.
Front cover photo by Navy reporter Ishige.

Vintage magazine cover

"Seinen Yomiuri" (Yomiuri Youth), March 1945

Vintage magazine cover

Cover of September 6, 1939 issue of magazine "Shashin Shuho" (Photo Weekly News) featuring an Army Type 92 Fighter or Kawasaki KDA-5 belonging to the Rikugun Koku Shikan Gakko (Army Air Academy) with a most unusual paint-job on the wings. I believe the colour of the "saw teeth" is red but their exact purpose is unknown. Any ideas?

Vintage magazine cover



"Domei Graph", October 1943



Vintage magazine cover

"Koku Shonen", August 1944 issue. Cover artwork by Kabashima Katsuichi featuring a Nakajima Ki-44 "Shoki". The propaganda slogan on the cover reads "We can destroy the US-UK with our own hands!".

Vintage magazine cover

Cover of the July 1930 issue of magazine "Koku Jidai"...83 years ago. Another brilliant artwork by artist Suzuki Gyosui (see previous posting here). 

The flying boat is a Dornier Do J Wal belonging to the Nippon Koku Yuso KK, with the registration J-BARH and named "Kamitaka". It was the first Wal built by Kawasaki with parts imported from Germany and various modifications including changing the engines from Rolls-Royce Eagle, 360hp, to Kawasaki-BMW-VI, 500hp, and making room for six passengers in the front part of the fuselage with windows and cargo in the rear. The cockpit on this plane was located behind the passenger cabin. It was completed in October 1930 and tests in Kobe were most sasatisfactory. It was placed in the Osaka-Fukuoka route. The illustration shows the plane before it's completion without the name "Kamitaka" written on the fuselage side in hiragana. 

Vintage magazine cover

Cover of August 1930 issue of magazine "Koku Jidai". Artwork by painter Suzuki Gyosui  born 1898 in Akita prefecture and a graduate of the Tokorozawa Rikugun Hiko Gakko. In 1927 his artwork illustrated aviation stories in the magazine "King" and in 1929 contributed artwork in another magazine, "Shonen Club". A year later he dedicated himself in creating aviation subjects earning the nickname "Air Force Suzuki Gyosui".  Died in 1982.

The aircraft on the cover is a Junkers F-13 seaplane with the registration J-BALG which according to the civilian register site belonged to Teikoku Kaibo Gikai, then to Nippon Koku KK until it crashed n March 1934.

Vintage magazine cover

"Sina Jihen Gaho", December 21, 1937 issue

The photo caption reads: "A memory photo of fallen comrades-in-arms. The two pilots with their back in the camera are Sgt Okabe and Sgt Major Moriyama who passed away during combat in North China."

The aircraft in the background is a Type 88 Reconnaissance Model 1 or Kawasaki KDA-2.

Vintage magazine cover

The March 1942 issue of magazine "Seinen" (Youth) featured the dorsal machine gunner of an Army Type 93 Twin-engine Light Bomber or Mitsubishi Ki-2-I while a pair of Mitsubishi Ki-30 "Ann" were in the background. The machine gun is a Type 89 7.7 mm twin flexible. The colours chosen for the illustration are surprisingly accurate and a good indication of the early IJAAF 2 or 3-tone camouflage of the 30s; dark green and earth sometimes with sandy yellow separated by white lines.

Vintage magazine cover - Kill marking

Cover of magazine "Asahi Graph", February 21, 1945 issue. Photo taken by reporter Sano.

The caption says: "Azayakana gekitsui no shirushi aiki ni notte kurai yoru sutsugekki suru waga seikutai yushi.  -  Hondo seikutai OO kichi ni te". [A "beloved*" airplane with a clear victory marking with one of our braves (in the controls) getting ready to take-off for another attack in the dark night.  -  At the XX base of mainland "seikutai"."

The aircraft is a Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" (Nick) and the mention of the word "seikutai" in the caption indicates that it probably belonged to the 53rd Sentai which had a B-29 ramming unit called "Shinten Seikutai" (Heaven-Shaking Air Superiority Unit). Ramming Ki-45s were unarmed, had explosives in the rear pilot's seat and very often had the radio mast cut shorter. The also never operated at night. So the existence of the killing marking and the long radio mast suggest that this particular pilot and the aircraft were previous members of the ramming unit and were diverted to the "normal" fighting unit. This was the case with various members of the "Shinten Seikutai" unit. Originally assigned to a ramming unit they were diverted back to their fighter unit when B-29s started bombing at night.

From the available 53rd Sentai photos we can make out only two Ki-45s with the single color top camouflage, described as either dark green top, haryokushoku bottom or dark brown top, hairyokushoku bottom; all the other Ki-45s of the unit have blotches or squiggles. One such Ki-45 belonged to the flight leader (name unknown) of the 3rd Hikotai within the unit without the distinctive arrow of the seikutai unit and a white "59" on the tail. The second belonged to Sgt Aoyama Toshiaki who was a member of the seikutai unit and his Ki-45 has the arrow and a white "33" on the tail. Unfortunately the only photo of his airplane (FAOW 21, p. 85) is shot from the rear, the spinners are not visible and we have no further information about the pilot at the moment. Therefore our suggestion (based only on the caption) cannot be presently confirmed.

*A few years back I had an argument with a Japanese aircraft expert from the US regarding the correct translation of the Japanese word "aiki" which is how very often Japanese pilots called their personal aircraft. The word "ai" in Japanese means "love" and "ki" is part of "hikoki" which means airplane. Therefore, according to our opinion, the word "aiki" can be translated as "beloved plane" (synonyms for the word "beloved" are: darling, dear, precious, adored, cherished, treasured and valued; all very suitable. In Greek the word "αγαπημένο" describes perfectly the meaning without the need of synonyms.) although we feel that the word "precious" is much closer.

The US researcher insisted that since all aircraft belonged to the Emperor they could not belong to a certain pilot, therefore the proper translation of the word "aiki" is simply "his aircraft". Ignoring the contradiction created by the fact that the possessive "his" automatically cancels this opinion, we find it especially dry and impersonal, without a hint of the emotional bond Japanese pilots (and from all over the world indeed) created with a certain aircraft that brought them back home safely. Time and again during our discussions with Japanese veterans the word "aiki" is used by them with such strong emotions that even the world "darling", usually reserved for spouses, could describe. I hope you will allow us to use the translation "precious aircraft" or other synonyms in this blog.

Vintage magazine cover

"Daitowa Sensho Gaho", October 1943 issue 

Vintage magazine cover

"Koku Shonen" October 1942 issue

Cover artwork by Kabajiwa Katsuichi, "Waga Rikukugun no Seiei Keibakugekiki" (Our Elite Army Light Bombers). Note the green and sandy brown colours of the camouflage. Mitsubishi Ki-30 "Ann", 16th Sentai?

Vintage magazine cover

The cover of March 15, 1944 issue of  "Shashin Shuho" (Photo Weekly News) is offering an excellent frontal view of a Kawasaki Ki-48 "Lilly" revealing the exact shape of the nose. A good reference we hope for the AZModel kit in 1/48.

According to the caption: "Women are more and more involved in the production of aircraft as these girls in a Kawasaki factory testify. Who would have thought that women would participate in the assembly of the smallest to the largest part of an aircraft? But indeed that's what they do at an equal level with men. So take this opportunity and join the aircraft production."

Vintage Magazine Cover

Magazine "Hiko Shonen". 

Note that the cover features a Kawanishi H8K2-L, the little known transport version of the "Emily", that could carry a crew of nine and 29 passengers or 64 troops. Official designation was Type 2 Transport Flying-Boat "晴空Seiku" (Clear Sky).

Vintage magazine cover

Shukan Shokokumin, December 1943

The artist is Mukai Junkichi and the title is "Air battle (Shoki Suicide attack)". Google the name of the artist!

Vintage magazine cover

Domei Graph - September 1942