Quiz #4 - Answer

The answer to this quiz was quite difficult to figure out. There are still various questions we haven't found the complete answer yet but we keep searching and, as always, we will update this post accordingly. 
What was particularly surprising and frustrating, is how little proper research has been done on the "Shiden" units. Scattered information all over the place, one-liners in photo captions and sometimes inaccurate tidbits, cannot be called serious research.
Anyway, let's begin by making clear that the aircraft in the photo is indeed a Kawanishi N1K1-J "Shiden" belonging to the Omura Kokutai.

The school was inaugurated on December 1, 1922. From the beginning of the Pacific War it was assigned patrol and anti-submarine duties in the East China Sea, operating various types of aircraft.

From the second half of 1944, the fighter instructors were assigned to air defense duties and on August 1 (or 10), 1944, the 352Ku was organized in Omura base, see here. On October 25, 1944, Omura was the target of a major raid which set the 21st Navy Aviation Arsenal on fire. "Shiden" fighters from Omura and 352Ku took off to intercept and claimed at least one enemy bomber shot down. During the following days, Omura city was bombed no less than 18 times and both kokutai did their best to provide air defense.

On May 5, 1945, the Omura Ku was disbanded and was placed under the command of the Seikai Kokutai.  

That's the brief history of the unit, mostly from the Japanese Wiki, and the starting point of various complications.

Here's more information we unearthed from the unit's battle reports.

On December 1, 1944, the unit had 52 Zero fighters of which 20 were combat ready, 24 Mitsubishi A6M2-K Zero trainers, two "Shiden" both under maintenance, 14 "Type 2 Trainers" (probably A5M4-K), 18 Type 96 Fighters (A5M "Claude"), five Type 90 Crew Trainers (Mitsubishi K3M "Pine") and five Yokosuka K5Y2 "Akatonbo" trainers. This is the first time any "Shiden" are mentioned in the unit's strength so it's safe to conclude that OmuraKu started receiving the type around that time.

On March 31, the unit had the following aircraft in its strength: 58 Zero fighters of which only nine were operational, 41 A6M2-Ks, 12 Type 2 Trainers, 16 A5M "Claude", five K3M "Pine" trainers, 10 "Akatonbo", and one Carrier Attacker of unknown type. Also, 17 "Shiden" of which seven were hidden to avoid been destroyed by air raids and eight were undergoing maintenance. This leaves only two combat-ready N1K1-Js even though the official document mentions that there were no operational "Shiden" in the unit whatsoever.

The battle reports end on this date.

As mentioned above, the unit was disbanded on May 5. Omura Kokutai documents describe the reassignment of the personnel, and mention that most of the pilots and students were sent over to the 352Ku. Of the 1800  ground crew members, 1630 were reassigned to Seikai Kokutai, 50 to 352Ku, three to 210Ku, 22 to TsukubaKu and 112 to San-in Kokutai.

Unfortunately, there is no mention as to what happened to the unit's aircraft.

Watanabe Yoji in a photo caption on p.184, of his book "Hondo Bokusen" mentions:

"Around March 1945, the following units were equipped with "Shiden": YatabeKu, TsukubaKu, OmuraKu and GenzanKu which were all training units, and 210Ku, 601Ku and Sento 402 Hikotai.

On May 5, five of these "Shiden" units gathered in Tsukuba and were grouped together as Sento 403 Hikotai, together with Sento 402 Hikotai."

This means that, according to Watanabe Yoji, the OmuraKu "Shiden" were reassigned to TsukubaKu and more specifically to the Sento 403 Hikotai.

Akimoto in "Saikyo Sentoki Shiden-Kai", p.147, agrees and mentions that: 

"Around March 1945, YatabeKu begun receiving "Shiden" and this "Shiden-tai" (unit) with 18 aircraft, on May 5, with TsukubaKu, OmuraKu, GenzanKu, 210Ku, were all merged together becoming Sento 403 Hikotai. Also, the Sento 402 Hikotai that was under 601Ku, came under the TsukubaKu as well."

Nevertheless, Model Art #587, mentions on p.149, that the "OS" marking on the "Shiden" signified the "OmuraKu detachment to the SeikaiKu".

The Decal set "Terrible Georges" by "On the Move", 2002, includes a list of all the "Shiden" found at the end of the war and the bases they were discovered at. In Tsukuba there are only 11 "Shiden" but 74 "Shiden" are mentioned at Himeji base. The Himeji factory had no airfield, so the finished aircraft were disassembled and were transported by horse or oxcarts to another assembly factory, where they were put together and then dispatched to various units by the 1001Ku based at Himeji Base. The Sento 402 and 403 Hikotai were located at that airfield in the end of June, so maybe these aircraft belonged to these units. 

The list mentions 77 "Shiden" in Omura, probably including the "Shiden-Kai" of 343Ku.

Below is well-known photo of a Model 52 Hei Zero, having the tail marking "03 798" belonging to the 203Ku. But under that tail marking, we can see that it has an earlier marking; "オ-148", which means it previously belonged to OmuraKu. Of particular interest is the fact that this aircraft was found at the end of the war in Omura base.

One last piece of information. The Seikai Kokutai was one of the few units known unofficially as "Otsu". These kokutai were assigned to certain sectors but did not have any aircraft or crews of their own. They were ground support units with airfield guards, lookouts and transport sections. When the enemy presence was particularly felt in their sector area, various units were assigned to these "Otsu Kokutai" to provide air cover in the area. 

So, to summarize, it is confirmed that Omura Kokutai had more than a dozen of "Shiden" fighters starting from January 1945. The unit was disbanded on May, 1945, and came under the Seikai Kokutai. Most of the pilots were assigned to the 352Ku, while most of the ground crew members were assigned to SeikaiKu and about two dozen to TsukubaKu.

The "mystery" is what happened to the unit's aircraft after it was disbanded. Did the "Shiden" stay in Omura and was there an "Omura detachment" under the SeikaiKu equipped with "Shiden"? Or were they all reassigned to the TsukubaKu coming under the Sento 403 Hikotai? 

Our suggestion based on the above available information is the following; OmuraKu most probably did not have any operational "Shiden" on May 5, 1945. No "Shiden" were sent to TsukubaKu, otherwise Sento 403 would have more than 11 aircraft at the end of the war and wouldn't wait for new ones fresh out of the factories. Note also that no OmuraKu pilots were reassigned to Tsukuba. What OmuraKu sent to Tsukuba was ground crews experienced with the type.

All OmuraKu pilots that could fly "Shiden", were reassigned to the 352Ku and were to fly "Shiden-Kai" fighters of which the unit had plenty. Note that 50 ground crew members were reassigned to the 352Ku, in our opinion those familiar with the "Shiden/Shiden-Kai" types. All remaining aircraft, Zeros and others were reassigned to various units, like the 203Ku, probably coming under the Seikai Kokutai with most of the ground crew members.

In our opinion there was never a "Shiden" equipped "Omura detachment". There was indeed an Omura Detachment but consisted of ground crews.

The "S" in the tail marking did not signify the "Seikai Kokutai" but was used only by the "Shiden" of the OmuraKu; the Zeros had only an "O" on their tail.

Below is the complete photo from which the close up with the "Shiden" tail was taken. In my opinion this is one of the hangars of the 21 Navy Aviation Arsenal in Omura Base with many different types of damaged or destroyed aircraft, from various units, that were to be either fixed or cannibalized for spare parts.

Note in the foreground the L2B3 "Tabby" of the 1081Ku.

If you have more information about the fate of the Omura Kokutai "Shiden" please feel free to leave a comment or email us.      

IJAAF & IJNAF wrecked aircraft #51 - Philippines pt. 8

The last post in the Philippines series is mainly about the shed used by the TAIU to restore the aircraft and their activities.

First we will start with a view of the Kawanishi "Shiden" being restored.

There are at least two "Shiden" in the still. The tail marking on the one on the right looks to me to be the same with this "Shiden", we discussed in an old post here. 

Another "Shiden" captured and restored was this Model 11 Koh, with tail marking "341S-23" and serial number #7102, that belonged to the Sento 402 Hikotai (Fighter 402 Air Unit) of the 341Ku...

...and became "S9" when restored by the TAIU. Note the number "23" still on the wheel cover.

In the following still we can see a "Hayate" in the foreground, and another "Shiden" being worked on by the TAIU in the basckground.

In the background on the left there is one with its camouflage paint removed and US flag colors applied on the rudder and next to it we can see the tail of another "Shiden". I believe it's "341-16/S. Photo below from MA#587.

It's a "Shiden" that belonged to the Sento 402 Hikotai of the 341Ku like the other "Shiden" above, it just has the tail marking applied differently.

Here are two more 341Ku "Shiden" captured in the Philippines, from the Jeff Ethel collection.

Various sources indicate that the "201-53" "Shiden" was restored as "7", photo below.

In the still above it seems that the restored "Shiden" on the left could have the number "7" on its tail.

  

As can be seen in the still further above, two "Hayate" were also undergoing restoration. Here's another still.

The one in the foreground with the darker pannels on the cowling, had its engine test started.

And finally here's a still showing a "Shoki" getting restored to flying condition.

As to what happened to all these aircraft in the Philippines, here's what Robert C. Mikesh mentions in his "Broken Wings of the Samurai":

"The plan for locating, identifying and safeguarding this equipment found in Japan started long before TAIU activities were moved to Japan.When rumours began that Japan had capitulated, this brought about renewed activity for the 129 team members of the TAIU at Clark AB in the Philippines, the unit that would have this task.

....

At Clark AB, the TAI Unit quickly organized their equipment and packed it for the move. Most of the heavy equipment at Clark was trucked to an awaiting LST for the move to Okinawa. The remaining equipment and advance teams were flown to Okinawa, leaving behind the many Japanese aircraft the unit had been working on for so many months, preparatory to further flight evaluation. Seemingly only one Japanese bomber and one fighter, a "Betty" and a "Frank", are known to have been sent to the United States of all the aircraft evaluated at Clark. At first glance, this eemed quite a loss of hundreds of man hours the mechanics had expended in making selcted aircraft flyable, but greater treaures were expected ahead.

Only one of these enemy aircraft left behind survived for any appreciable time. It was an "Oscar II" that was placed on a pylon and mounted outside Base Operations at Clark."

Erratum: In pt.2 I mentioned that there is no separate Wikipedia page for the ATAIU units. Actually, there is this one.

Ace IJNAF Pilot Miyazaki Isamu

Ensign Miyazaki Isamu was an ace of the IJNAF that fought in most South Pacific theatres including Rabaul, Guadalcanal, the Solomons and New Guinea where he flew Zero-sen. From 1945, Miyazaki-san was assigned to the Sento (fighter) Hikotai 301 of the famous 343 Air Group flying the latest Navy fighter; Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-kai.

His autobiography entitled "Kaete kita Shiden-kai" (the Shiden-kai that came back) was released by Kojinsha in June 1993 and is full of vivid descriptions of all his War experiences.

A small extract from the chapter "saigo no shutsugeki" (the last sortie) details the very last time he flew during the War and more.
  On August 12, 1945 Miyazaki-san took off with three other pilots on a patrol mission over Yakushima with himself being the flight leader. On the way back while flying at a height of 1,000m over the city of Karatsu the Japanese pilots started receiving heavy anti-aircraft fire from the nearby IJArmy base. Perhaps the Shiden-kai were mistaken with US Grumman F6F and to their bad luck the gunners on that day were particularly accurate. The pilot of the third aircraft Okimoto was shot and had to make a belly landing on a field near the seashore while the pilot of the fourth aircraft, Izawa, crashed in the sea.
  Miyazaki-san's plane was also hit and due to the heavy shock the aircraft sustained, one of the legs deployed forcing him to land with only one leg down at Ganosu airfield where he lost consciousness during the impact. When he recovered he was furious and immediately called the IJArmy headquarters of the Western Area. His words "This is the Navy 343ku and you shot us down. The place is...Send here immediately the person responsible for this." must have certainly hit the target because eventually an Army Major arrived and apologised profusely. Fortunately both Navy pilots were rescued but Izawa suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to the hospital.
  That was Miyazaki-san's last flight of the War but it wasn't the first time Navy Shiden-kai were mistaken for enemy aircraft. During a kamikaze escort flight over Kikaijima an IJAAF aircraft was spotted approaching with his guns blazing. The Navy pilots thought "what the heck is he doing? Is he shooting at us?" So around April-June 1945 a Zero 52, a Shiden and a Shiden-kai flown by members of the 301 went to the tokotai base of Chiran to give the Army pilots a chance to see the Navy aircraft from up close and explain the tactics the IJNAF used against US aircraft.   

Arawasi had the privilage to meet Miyazaki-san on a number of occasions during the annual meetings of the "Kansai Rei-sen Tojoin-kai" (Kansai Zero Pilot's Association). We had the chance to relish the long conversations with a veteran in his 90s with a clear state of mind, remembering every small detail about either the Zero or the Shiden-kai, enjoying his beer and smoking like a chimney. Unforgettable will remain the moments when we heard all the veterans singing Navy songs on the first meeting after the death of Tanimizu-san.

Miyazaki-san (right) with "Kansai Rei-sen Tojoin-kai" president Ota-san,
a member of the 303 Fighter Hikotai of the 203 Air Group.

Miyazaki-san passed away in 2012. He will be sorely missed.

Kawanishi N1K-J "Shiden/Shiden-kai" (George), Yokosuka Kokutai

A collection of photos and artwork of Kawanishi N1K-J "Shiden/Shiden-kai" (George) belonging to the Yokosuka Kokutai from various sources.

This one, a N1K1-Ja "Shiden" (George) Type 11 Ko suffered heavy damage during an emergency landing.

Hasegawa has released a kit in 1/48, Nr.09870, of the aircraft

Unfortunately the entire tail number cannot be seen, but note the small yellow star above the horizontal stripe on the tail, signifying a kill.

"ヨ-107" (YO-107) was a N1K1-Ja "Shiden" (George) found by US forces after the end of the war. There is an inscription on the fuselage. We could not read the first part but the second part says: "and do not use this aircraft for spares" (don't remove parts of this aircraft to be used on other aircraft).

Another photo of the "ヨ-107" (YO-107) N1K1-Ja "Shiden" (George) seen in the previous photo.

In Memoram Lt Hayashi by Jan Bobek

Lt Hayashi Yoshishige.

(Photo from here)

Since the 1990s, when I first came across an issue of Model Art devoted to the N1K “Rex” and “George” fighters, one detail has remained firmly in my memory: the distinctive markings of the personal aircraft of one of the commanding officers of the Kōkūtai 343 (II), along with his name- Lt. Yoshishige Hayashi.

This officer was killed in April 1945 during an emergency landing on the seashore. Today, news has been published of the recovery of the wreckage of his aircraft. For me, this represents one of the most symbolic moments in my long-standing interest in Japanese military aviation.

Details of Hayashi’s career are not widely known even in Japan, and I would therefore like to share this information with you.

"Shiden-kai" Model 21 from the 301st Fighter Hikotai of the 343rd Kokutai (II) stationed at the snow-laden Matsuyama Air Base in Ehime Prefecture in February 1945.

The aircraft in the foreground is No. “343-A 17” with the "17" repeat in yellow inside the fuselage hinomaru. The 343rd Kokutai was the sole combat unit that was consistently equipped with and operated the "Shiden-kai".

Hayashi Yoshishige (林喜重; the given name is also sometimes read Kijū) was born in Kanagawa Prefecture and attended Shōnan Middle School (湘南中). In March 1941 he graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, Class 69 (ranked 90th of 342).

On 25 March 1941, Hayashi was appointed Midshipman. On 1 November 1941, he was commissioned as Ensign and entered Flight Training Course, Class 37. Promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) on 1 November 1942, he was assigned to the Kōkūtai 251 in the Rabaul–Solomon Islands area. From September 1943, he continued his service in the same theater as a Buntaichō with the Kōkūtai 253.

Hayashi was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 March 1944 and assigned to the Kōkūtai 361 as commander of Fighter Hikōtai 407. Both units were newly formed at Kagoshima. Although originally scheduled to be equipped with Shiden interceptors, the unit instead received Zero fighters. Due to shortages of aircraft, pilots, and officers, the Kōkūtai 361 was disbanded after four months without seeing combat.

On 10 July 1944, Hayashi transferred with Fighter Hikōtai 407 to the Kōkūtai 221, his Hikōtai intended to operate 48 fighter aircraft. After training at Kagoshima, it was deployed to Angeles, Luzon. In December 1944, Fighter Hikōtai 407 returned to Japan and, together with its commander Lt. Hayashi, was reassigned to the Kōkūtai 343 (II) and re-equipped with Shiden-kai fighters.

The Kōkūtai 343 (II) was tasked with patrol, interception, and escort missions for Special Attack units. In addition, it engaged B-29 bombers. Hayashi reportedly had a heated discussion with the commander of another Hikōtai within the Kōkūtai 343 (II), the well-known fighter ace Lt. Naoshi Kanno, regarding the proper method of attacking high-altitude B-29s.

On 21 April 1945, after intercepting a B-29, Hayashi was killed during a forced landing at Orikuchi Beach, Akune City, Kagoshima Prefecture. He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant Commander. He is credited with five aerial victories, including one achieved in a Shiden-kai fighter.

- Jan Bobek -

The "Shiden-kai" of Lt Hayashi is being lifted out of the water after 81 years.

"Toraware no Nihonki" #20 - Omura Base 紫電改 - video

After the end of the war, the US forces found a large number of Japanese aircraft at Omura Airfield, Nagasaki Prefecture. It was the base of the 343rd and the 352nd Kokutai, along with other units. There were 74 Kawanishi N1K-J "Shiden" and N1K2-J "Shiden-kai" (George), 14 Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden" (Jack), 24 Zero-sen fighters, 77 Yokosuka/Kawanishi K5Y1 "Akatonbo" (Willow) trainers, and more; 206 aircraft in total. 

Among them was a lone Showa L2D with Green Crosses, but unfortunately, we cannot determine if it flew any surrender or other special missions. 

In this video, we can see the US Forces, under the command of Major General Roscoe Barnett Woodruff , setting the Japanese aircraft on fire.

Here are some more photos from NARA of the event.

From the dozens of Japanese aircraft that were found in Omura Base, the six Kawanishi N1K2-J "Shiden-Kai" deemed to be in the best condition were selected by the occupying US forces for evaluation. They were maintained by Japanese ground crews and were flown from Omura to Yokohama, taking off on October 16, 1945.

The collection of images from different Japanese publications, plus one sourced from the web, showcases these six planes just prior to their departure from Omura Base.

Once in Yokosuka the six aircraft were to be shipped to the USA for testing and evaluation.

Note that the aircraft on the left side of the photo still has its 20mm wing cannons.

The six aircraft originally belonged to the 343 Kokutai and some members of the unit's maintenance and flight crew who had been demobilised were called back to work on them. Japanese sources mention that the ground crews were moved to tears by the aircraft's final flight.

As we can clearly see in this photo, in preparation for the long-distance flight, the aircraft were equipped with a 400L drop tank.

During the flight, the "Shiden-kai" were escorted by Grumman F6Fs. The Japanese pilots were warned that they would be shot down immediately if they flew suspiciously.

The Japanese fighters used high octane fuel provided by the US forces for this flight and it is said the engines performed excelently with the F6F barely able to catch up.

After arriving in Yokosuka, two "Shiden-kai" were removed from the shipping list and scrapped. The aircraft that were transported to the United States has serial numbers #71, #533, #5218 and #5341. There are currently no more than three "Shiden" planes left in museums across the United States.

IJAAF & IJNAF wrecked aircraft #12 - Yokosuka, Kawanishi N1K "George" and more Pt.1

The clip today, from here, was taken in Yokosuka. The first shows the U.S. Marines landing on the seaplane ramps, right in front of huge mostly undamaged hangars, obviously full of aircraft, unfortunately not visible in the video. 

The camera then moves to the right and we see, what I believe to be, a Kyushu K11W "Shiragiku" upside down, more about this particular planes, later.

Then for only a few seconds we see at least two very interesting types, a Kawanishi N1K1-J "Shiden" (George), tail marking "ヨ-168"(Yo-168) and a Kawanishi N1K2-J "Shiden-kai", tail marking "ヨ-10?". In the background are different types of aircraft, one with tail marking "ヨ-140" and another "ヨ-157" (?). 

Then we get a panoramic view of the same area where we can see the "Shiden" "Yo-168" on the right. Behind it we can see the rest of the tail marking of the "Shiden-kai" "Yo-109", two more "Shiden-kai" "Yo-101 and "Yo-103 (? not very clear)". Note that all "George" have a yellow band above the tail marking.

In front of the "Yo-103(?)" is a Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden" in pretty bad condition and next to it most probably a Yokosuka K5Y "Akatonbo" (Willow) trainer, a floatplane version so K5Y2.

In the next still, right next to the "Willow" we can see, again most probably, an A6M2-N and then certainly a Kawanishi N1K1 "Kyofu" floatplane.  

Finally we see again the upside down "Shiragiku" and this time the tail marking is (almost visible) "Yo-860(?)".

IJAAF & IJNAF wrecked aircraft #9 - Kawanishi N1K "Shiden" (George)

The last clip in this series features a Kawanishi N1K "Shiden" (George) found in pretty bad condition on Tokunoshima. As before US troops were no very comfortable with the aircraft sitting around with its cannons intact and I think they used thermite grenades to destroy them.

The full tail marking is not clearly visible to identify with absolute certainty the unit the fighter belonged to.

As in the previous post, in Martin Ferkl's Japanese WWII Aircraft In Colour (REVI publications) there is a color photo of the same aircraft. Unfortunately the location has been identified as "probably the Phlippines" and I believe that Martin deduced that the unit is the 762Ku. 

A part of the tail marking on the starboard side is visible; "XX2-56". The "56" part can be confirmed as it is repeated on the port wheel cover and note that there is a hyphen after the "2".

The tail marking on the more heavily damaged port side is more confusing. The numbers "54" are visible, but no "2" or any other number. AFAIK there is no 542Ku so the marking numbers present a problem. 

There is another explanation as to why we see the "54" on the port side of the tail. Perhaps it was the serial number which became visible when the paint and the unit marking were burned or destroyed in some other way. Kimura-san in his brilliant pamphlet that accompanied the old "Wingart" decal series, explains that "Shiden" manufactured at the Naruo factory, Hyogo Prefecture, (serial numbers 5251~5550) were delivered with the tail pattern below.

As a result, we concluded that we can only be sure about the yellow number "2-" as part of the tail number. The only unit we could find equipped with "Shiden" and a tail marking ending with a "2" is the 132Ku which was organized on February 5, 1945 in Tainan, Taiwan as a reconnaissance unit. On April 17 the unit relocated to Hsinchu, Taiwan to fly reconnaissance missions and to confirm the results of attacks against the U.S. Fleet during the Okinawa campaign. Akimoto mentions that the unit was equipped with Nakajima C6N "Saiun" (Myrt), Yokosuka D4Y "Suisei" (Judy) and..."Shiden".  

There is also the possibility that the particular aircraft belonged to some unknown hikotai or kogekitai but highly unlikely an unknown kokutai.

And last but not least, HERE is the link to the whole video of the series, courtesy of the US National Archives, where you can also see "Shinyo" suicide motor boats and their base.

We hope you liked this series. More videos to follow. Stay tuned.

NEW Publication - The IJNAF Interceptor "Shiden" N1K1-J

 

Title: The Imperial Japanese Navy Interceptor "Shiden" N1K1-J series, photo & illustrated

Authors: Yoshino Yasutaka
Pages: 127

Size: 21X26
Photos: 144
Profiles: 13
Published by Dai Nippon Kaiga, Feb. 2017.

 

A new publication by DNK dedicated mostly to the Kawanishi N1K1-J "Shiden" prototype. Dozens of high quality photos that appear first time in-print covering every detail of the prototype. There are seven pages with color illustrations by artist Sato Kunihiko (from Model Art) as well as side and bottom color views by Yoshino Yasutaka of "Shiden" belonging to various units. There is also a chapter with a few photos and drawings detailing the various differences between the "Shiden" prototypes, pre-production and production versions. Unfortunately no English in the book but a highly recommended one nonetheless.

The book is available through our on-line store: HERE

 

 

 

Kawanishi N1K2-Ja "Shiden-kai"

More NARA photos today, this time of a Kawanishi N1K2-Ja "Shiden-kai" Model 21ko found at the end of the war in the Akishima factory of Showa Hikoki in Tokyo. It was sent there as a sample since Showa was going to start producing the type under licence from Kawanishi together with Mitsubishi and the 21st Navy Arsenal. Eventually Showa produced only two "Shiden-kai" by the end of the war. Note the Japanese built DC-3 in the background.

 

The original NARA caption is most interesting:

"Front view of the Shiden-kai fighter-bomber, Japanese copy of the P-47. Only two of this model were manufactured, one for the navy and the other for the army. Neither of them have been flown."