Giuseppe 'Joe' Picarella MRAeS has very kindly provided this fascinating and beautifully presented news story to the Aviation of Japan blog. Kamikaze’s return
by Giuseppe 'Joe' Picarella
On 15 March this year, Ayami Koh of the Asahi Shimbun (Asahi Press) website made the surprise announcement that the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Historic Archives had placed an aviation artefact of national importance back on display for the Japanese people. The item in question is a skin panel (as shown in the heading image above, screen shot from Asahi.com news website) that it has identified as belonging to the Mitsubishi Karigane aircraft Kamikaze, which in 1937 undertook the gruelling (15,357km) flight from Tokyo to London (6th to 10th of April), to celebrate the coronation of King George VI.
Kamikaze at Croydon Airport 9 April 1937 (Author collection)
The exploits of Kamikaze and its daring crew (Masaaki Iinuma and Kenji Tsukagoshi) during the spring of 1937 are well known for capturing the imagination of the Japanese people during a period of economic turmoil and political insecurity. The whole concept of the coronation flight was initiated by the Aviation Department of Asahi Shimbun in the hope that such an event would raise the national pride of the country and they would of course report on the unfolding events. Kamikaze certainly achieved this aim and in doing so also gaining Japan’s first Fédération Aéronautique Internationale record for the flight from Tokyo to London with a duration of 94 hours. 17 minutes and 56 seconds, achieving an average speed of 162.854 kilometres per hour.
Kamikaze was in fact the second prototype (c/n 1502) of the Ki-15, (Type 97 Command Reconnaissance Plane - Kyu-Nana Shiki Shireibu Teisatsu-ki - 九七式司令部偵察機 or Kyu-Nana Shi-tei - 九七司偵) the world’s first high-speed strategic reconnaissance aircraft, an Army aircraft specifically designed to undertake its highly specialised (and at that time unique) photographic missions deep inside enemy territory, being immune from interception by virtue of its high performance.
Kamikaze in its first military scheme (James F Lansdale via Author)
After returning to Japan on May 21st, Kamikaze, in its striking silver and blue paint scheme, became a national icon and drew crowds wherever it appeared. But following the start of the second Sino-Japanese war in July 1937, Kamikaze was recalled into service for the Army in order to perform reconnaissance duties and assist in the training of reconnaissance crews as production of new Ki-15 airframes was slowly increased. In this role the aircraft received a hastily applied camouflage paint scheme, painted over and around the Kamikaze and Asahi markings, giving the impression that a silver coloured banner had been applied behind them.
Kamikaze first accident (Henry Sakaida via Author)
On 6 November disaster struck when the aircraft was badly damaged at Tachiarai Army Airfield following an engine failure during take-off, forcing Iinuma and Tsukagoshi to attempt a landing on muddy turf, which resulted in the aircraft flipping over onto its back. Both men were dazed but escaped with only minor injuries. However Kamikaze did not fare so well and the damage was deemed almost beyond economic repair, as the engine, forward fuselage, cockpit, rear fuselage, empennage and outer wings were all badly damaged. However, Asahi Shimbun realized that the value of this specific aircraft was important to their image and decided to have the aircraft restored back to airworthy condition regardless of the cost.
Kamikaze in second military scheme (Author collection)
On 3 March 1938, Kamikaze was rolled out for a second time complete with new camouflage markings, but its renewed stint in the military would be brief and the aircraft was soon repainted in civilian markings for a second time, before resuming its role as the Asahi Shimbun flagship for another 18 months. While almost identical to its first civilian paint scheme there were subtle changes, most notably a larger name and Asahi Shimbun logo.
Kamikaze in second civilian paint scheme (JAA via Author)
On 6 October 1939, while performing a courier mission from Taipei Airport to Hakata Airport, the crew of the day became lost in bad weather and crashed into the sea 100 meters off the coast of southern Formosa (Taiwan). The pilot narrowly escaped death, but the navigator’s body was never found. Once again the aircraft was returned to Mitsubishi for restoration, but this time, the damage and saltwater corrosion rendered the airframe unsafe and it was decided to proceed with a static restoration only. That resulted in a miss-match of various Ki-15 production parts being fitted to the aircraft. Once completed the aircraft was placed on display at the Yasukuni Shrine for a few months, before being moved to the TouGou Shrine at Harajuku, Tokyo. Finally, on 20 October 1940, the aircraft was placed on display in the Kamikaze Memorial Hall, which had been built on Mt. Ikoma, between Osaka and Nara Prefectures.
Kamikaze's second accident (Henry Sakaida via Author)
Kamikaze Memorial Hall. Note high canopy enclosure, prop and smaller spinner (Ron Cole via Author)
The aircraft survived the Pacific War with only minor damage sustained during Allied bombing, but under the terms of the occupation, all activities concerning aviation were prohibited and during the autumn of 1945, Kamikaze was removed from display and burned by US soldiers in the road. However it appears that the destruction of the aircraft was not as thorough as intended, as according to Mitsubishi the panel was cut from the burnt wreckage by a member of the US military and subsequently taken back to the US as a war trophy. Luckily, the family of this serviceman were able to identify this unusual item and, recognising its potential importance to Japan, donated it to Mitsubishi in 2021.
Skin panel location © 2024 G Picarella
The 60cm x 40cm skin panel is from the port (left) side of the fuselage in the region of fuselage frame station FS.4 and FS.6. The exterior face carries the Asahi Shimbun flag motif, which has survived surprisingly well, given that the aircraft was set alight, but there is evidence of burning around the edges. The photo also reveals that final restoration of Kamikaze was not finished to the same standard as the original 19 March 1937 roll-out, which had (for aerodynamic purposes) received so many coats of lacquer that it was difficult to discern rivets heads and even some panel lines. A question that will concern Japanese aviation circles is that of the internal paint application; is it Aotake blue or possibly a light grey interior application that was often applied to Army aircraft of the period? Interestingly, the right-hand side of the photo reveals the edge of fuselage frame FS.7, which seems to show a dark blue finish. But, given that Kamikaze was rebuilt on two occasions, with the second time being a total rebuild, it is likely that the original 1937 interior finish was completely removed and a later Aotake application was applied. Discussions are already underway with the archive to investigate this issue, so watch this space.
Kamikaze markings and colour schemes © 2024 G Picarella
The whole story of the Mitsubishi Ki-15 family of aircraft, including the 1937 coronation flight of Kamikaze, is coved by the author in two volumes: “Mitsubishi Babs – the world’s first high-speed strategic reconnaissance aircraft” – published by MMP Books – Vol. I published in 2023, Vol. II published in 2024.
© 2024 G. Picarella
With very special thanks to Joe for sharing this news story and images with Aviation of Japan. Volume II of Joe's ground breaking treatise on the Ki-15 to be reviewed here shortly.
Image credit: Per captions
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