Ginga Night Fighter by Felix Gossler

Felix Gossler has kindly shared images of his Ginga model, representing YoD-181 of 302 Ku's 2nd Hikotai as a so-called Type 21 mentioned here. Felix has set the model on a well crafted display base featuring ground crew figures re-painting the Hinomaru which provides a real sense of scale for this elegant night fighting twin.

With special thanks to Felix for sharing these excellent images. 

Image credit: All © 2025 Felix Gossler  

It's Christmas Day

With best wishes for the Christmas season and New Year  to all Aviation of Japan readers and contributors. Thank you all and special thanks to those kind souls who have reached out to ask about this Blogger's health and well being. Still here, just moving ever more slowly!

Image credit:  Clearing After a Snowfall on Mount Fuji (Taganoura Beach) 1932, Kawase Hasui 川瀬 巴水 (1883-1957)  

A Rare Survivor

A tip of the seasonal hat to Andrew Young for very kindly sharing these links featuring a rare surviving tail fin and rudder in original paint from a Nakajima C6N Saiun 'Myrt' 21-101 of 121 Ku captured on Tinian. The article C6N Saiun Tail presents a comprehensive selection of large and clear photographs of the tail including close-ups and also features the left hand tailplane of Mitsubishi A6M2 c/n 2666 Hōkoku 515 (Hiroshima Prefecture Industrial and Source Branch) with a link to the website of Mr Taizo Nakamura  detailing this Zero and discussing its colour scheme. The Saiun article notes that this shows that the Zero fighter was not 'amber colored' but a completely achromatic gray.

Photographs of Saiun 21-101 at the time of its capture were published in Bunrin-Do's Famous Airplanes of the World No.82 in February 1977, demonstrating without doubt that the paint scheme is original. A link to Misawa Aviation & Science Museum also features further photographs of the artefact whilst a link to a NewsOnline article tells the story of its survival and acquisition (cut and paste the Japanese text into Google Translate to get the gist). 

With special thanks to Andrew for the links. 

Image credit: via links above and FAOW cover © 1977 Bunrin-Do.

Japanese Submarine Aircraft - Book Review

In the 1960s the imported Japanese Aoshima kits of IJN floatplanes were a revelation and wonder - Shiun ('Norm') 紫雲,   Zuiun 瑞雲 ('Paul') - and Seiran 晴嵐 - a floatplane carried in a submarine. Not some fragile, dinky design but more like a Judy on floats, powered by an Aichi inline engine.

Aoshima Seiran 1964

In 2002 MMP (Stratus) published Japanese Submarine Aircraft by Tadeusz Januszewki in their Red Series, a 128 page soft cover slightly larger than digest size, shown below. This presented details in text, plans and photos of six submarine carried floatplanes together with the proposed catapult launched Kugisho Ohka Model 43 Ko. Appendices included a list of submarines, 14 pages of colour profiles and 17 pages of colour photos, inside and out, of the surviving Seiran at the NASM Garber facility.

Now this new 2025 publication, shown at heading, authored by Ryusuke Ishiguro and Tadeusz Januszewki, a near A4 sized, 176 page hardcover with laminated boards and a splendid cover illustration of Seiran by Tomasz Kaca, takes a deeper dive into the subject. The two publications compliment rather than duplicate each other, for example the new book does not include the NASM 'walk around' photos of Seiran but provides more details of development history and, importantly, operations, hitherto unknown or shrouded in much confusion and mystery. The contents are as follows:-

Chapter 1

• Japanese Experience with Submarine Aircraft
• Operational Strategy
• Pacific War: Reconnaissance Operations over Pearl Harbor
• Operational Activity of Submarine I-25and its Reconnaissance Seaplane
• Reconnaissance Flight over Sydney Harbor on 17 February 1942
• Reconnaissance Flight over Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay on 26 February 1942
• Reconnaissance Flight over Hobart and Tasmania on 1 March 1942
• Operational Activities of the 8th Submarine Squadron
• Reconnaissance Flight over Sydney on 23 May 1942
• Reconnaissance Flight over Sydney on 19 February 1943
• Flights over the Indian Ocean
•  Collaboration with the Kreigsmarine in the Indian Ocean
• Kugisho E14Y1 Seaplane in the Far North
• Bombing Attack on US Territory
• The Most Probable Course of Nobuo Fujita's First Bombing Flight
• Submarine Transport Missions to Germany - Operation Yanagi
• Submarine Aircraft Carriers Against the United States
• Project Sen-Toku
• Sen-Toku ClassSubmarine Aircraft Carriers
• Armament of Sen-Toku Class Submarines
• Junsen Ko-Gata Kai Class Submarine Aircraft Carriers
• Combat Operations of Sen-Toku Submarines: attack on the Panama Canal
• Combat Operations of Sen-Toku Class Submarines:
• Final Departure
• Capitulation
• Biological Weapons and Sen-Toku Class Submarines

Chapter 2

• Yokosho 1-Go
• Yokosho 2-Go (E6Y1)
• Watanabe E9W1 (Slim)
• Kugisho E14Y (Glen)
• E14Y2 Model 12 Development Version
• Watanabe E14W1 
• Aichi M6A Seiran/Nanzan
• Kugisho Ohka 43 Ko-Gata
• Kawanishi Baika

Chapter 3

• Japanese Submarine Aircraft Carriers

Bibliography

As may be seen Chapter 1 is a densely packed collection of sub-headings, rich in data and complimented by rare and good sized photos, including a Hinomaru adorned Arado Ar 196, plus relevant maps,

Chapter 2 covers the various aircraft types, again with rare photos, plans in 1/72 or 1/48 scale, colour profiles and some colour plan views, although there is some inconsistency over the infamous IJN 'orange' or 'orange yellow' hue! That is a minor quibble against a fine presentation of colour schemes and markings. The different markings of 'Glen' and Seiran are of special interest, including the latter floatless, stripped of paint and wearing spurious US markings. The pilot Ensign Takahashi thought this was a violation of international law and a cowardly thing to do. In defiance he painted the symbol of an arrow piercing a heart on the spinner with the characters for 'One hit, one kill'.  This chapter should inspire a few models although, sadly and despite abundant data, a mainstream, injection moulded, 1/48 scale 'Glen' kit has not so far appeared. In 1/72 scale a decent kit of 'Glen', complete with catapult launching rail, was released by Fujimi in 1997 and was re-released by Hobby2000 in 2020. Whilst Tamiya offers excellent kits of Seiran in 1/72 and 1/48 scale, and Nanzan in 1/72 scale.   

Chapter 3 presents the details of the submarines with histories, technical data, side view plans and photos, including a couple in colour or colorised.

The Bibliography is comprehensive and impressive.

This book is a tour de force and I expect it to be the last word on the subject in the English language. Tadeusz Januszewski and Ryusuke Ishiguro's research is meticulous and the data they present fulsome and fascinating. They are the authors of previously impressive books on Japanese Special Attack Aircraft and Flying Bombs, Japanese Anti-Submarine Aircraft of the Pacific War and a monograph on the Kugisho 'Glen', all by the same publisher.

With special thanks to Ryusuke and MMP Books for the review copy of the book, a delight to read.

Image credit: Book covers © 2002 and 2025 MMP Books: Box art © 1964 Aoshima

Announcement - Lifelike Decals

Lifelike Decals have advised that the release of their latest 1/48 scale decal sheets for the Mitsubishi A6M Zero Fighters Parts 5 & 6 - sets 48-065 and 48-066 - have been delayed in order to re-stock the 48-SP-01 Hinomaru sheets which accompany each set. Orders will be fulfilled as soon as the Hinomaru sheets have been re-printed.

Awesome Avro Duo in 1/72 by Rob Ronconi

The first of two biplane features showcasing the excellent 1/72 models of Rob Ronconi, in this case an Avro 504K landplane and Avro 504L floatplane in Japanese Imperial Navy Service, built from the Kovozavody Prostejov (KP) kits KPM72461 and KPM0464 respectively. KP72461 'Japanese Users' provides options for three Japanese operated aircraft, two IJN including カ-463 in overall silver dope and the khaki drab aircraft modelled by Rob, together with one candy striped civilian aircraft 'J-TOWC'.

The landplane model represents an aircraft imported to Japan with Lord Sempill's British Air Mission in 1921 and operated at the Kasumigaura airfield which was to become the Naval Aviation Technical Training Institute. The floatplane represents 'R-613' reportedly of Kasumigaura  Ku (although not so sure about that). It is often reported that the 20 Avro 504K and 10 504L aircraft were taken to Japan as part of the 1921 so-called Sempill mission from UK. Whilst that is true the aircraft had in fact been ordered by the IJN prior to that mission being established. 

Through the Japanese Naval Attaché Lt Cdr Soemu Toyoda in London an official request had been made for Royal Navy assistance to the IJN to be officially sponsored by the British government. After discussion the request was ultimately regretfully refused. The Admiralty were opposed to the idea on the grounds that the IJN could become a rival, if not a threat, to British interests in the Far East, in contrast to the Air Ministry and Foreign Office. The Air Ministry was relaxed about British aircraft manufacturers selling their latest designs provided RAF specifications were not revealed. This laissé faire approach was founded in a contempt for Japanese potential in aviation development and pilot ability - 'It will therefore be a comparatively simple task to keep our lead over the Japanese in aerial matters.' The Foreign Office position was in support of export opportunities.   

The Japanese then requested unofficial assistance from an appropriate organiser and Colonel Sir William Frances Forbes-Sempill AFC, Baron, the Master of Sempill, was nominated. His terms of reference were agreed with the Japanese and in February 1921 he organised the mission with further provision of aircraft including 50 Gloster Sparrowhawk fighters (a further 40 being assembled at Yokosuka). The mission consisting of 27 ex-naval aviation personnel arrived at Yokohama, Japan in April 1921. In addition 113 British manufactured aircraft of 17 types, seven engines, bombs, torpedoes and wireless equipment were introduced to the IJN.

In addition to instruction and engineering support for the IJN the mission endorsed the acquisition of further aircraft types on behalf of British aircraft manufacturers. Vickers and Short Brothers sent teams to Mitsubishi and Yokosuka consisting of a designer, engineers and a test pilot. Between 1921 and 1931 33% of the 2,000 IJN aircraft manufactured in Japan were from British licences and another third from Mitsubishi adoption of British designs.

The Avro trainers proved so successful that the IJN decided to adopt them as standard trainers and successfully obtained licenced production in Japan. IJN personnel were sent to Avro in Britain to familiarise themselves with production and examples of the aircraft were provided to Nakajima and Aichi, who from 1922 to 1924 produced respectively 250 and 30, the latter being the twin float seaplane version.  

With special thanks to Rob for sharing these images of his superb models and equally excellent photography. Note the turnbuckles for the rigging!

References

Ferris, John, 'Armaments and Allies' in The Anglo-Japanese Alliance 1902-1922', Phillips Payson O'Brien editor, RoutledgeCurzon 2004
Mikesh, Robert C & Abe, Shorzoe, 'Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941', Putnam, 1990

Further Reading on Sempill

Hardie, Alex, 'Sempill, Japan, and Pearl Harbor: Traitor or Spy-Myth?' Online article:- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08850607.2022.2081048#abstract