The Go-To Website for
Information on Japanese Aviation

Three generations of JASDF fighter represented by (from front to rear): an upgraded F-4EJKai, the
Phantom having been in squadron service from 1973 to 2021; an F-2A (entered service in 2000);
and an F-15J (1989). At the time the photo was taken, all three were assigned to the
Gifu-based Air Development & Test Wing, which has its own page on this website.
(Photo: Kazuhiko Tokunaga/JASDF Gifu AB via X @JASDF_GIFUAB)

J-HangarSpace first slid open its doors on June 1, 2013, and the site houses an ever-growing wealth of detailed information on a wide range of Japanese aviation topics.

As you will notice from the navigation buttons to the left, the site is primarily devoted to subject matter from the 1950s onwards. Each section features information culled largely from Japanese-language sources, much of which will be appearing in English for the first time. Please note that, although some civil aviation topics are included, hangar space is at a premium and thus none is given over to modern-day airline operations.

This year, the JASDF will be marking its 70th anniversary year. As part of a gradual move away from current news content, the Bulletin Board page will feature a series looking back at the aircraft that were given special colour schemes for the three previous anniversaries.

Elsewhere, a page that has received a long overdue update is that providing the disposition status of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG), which celebrated its own Diamond Jubilee in 2018.

(Photo: SDF Gunma Provincial Cooperation Office via X @gunma_pco)

Each SDF section contains a Where Are They Now? Guide, providing information on and selected photos from the locations of surviving examples of withdrawn aircraft. A Where Are They Now? Guide by Prefecture, which is as far as possible kept updated, is included at the foot of the JMSDF page. 

Historical content has thus far spotlighted a dozen or so of Japan’s aviation museums, particularly those that have little or no English-language content. One aim here is to provide translations of exhibit information to make museum visits by overseas visitors that much more rewarding.

By its very nature this remains very much a part-time work in progress, so please bear with me while I continue to add meatier content to the “bare bones” of some sections. An overview of J-HangarSpace features and operations can be found at the foot of this page.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to click on Contact and send me a completed form.

Thanks for your visit and keep watching this space!

Paul Thompson

Toda, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
January 2024

(Photo: JMSDF Ozuki Air Training Group via X @jmsdf_ozatg)

(Photo [Feb. 18, 2018]: JASDF Ashiya AB)

Kindly provided to this website in 2014 by well-known aviation photographer and historian William T. “Bill” Larkins, this shot shows a lineup of factory-fresh, JASDF-bound Beech T-34A Mentors at Oakland Airport, California, in October 1954. 
A view from another angle, on the Early SDF History chronology page, reveals a surprising fact about these aircraft.
(A true aviation photography veteran, Bill Larkins [1922–2021] photographed for posterity thousands of aircraft that graced the skies, airfields and airports of his native California. [link]) 

One of the four Royal Air Force Typhoons that visited Misawa on exercise in October 2016 is 
seen in the background of a fine study of an 8th TFS F-2. Photo included to mark this site
having recorded its 10,000th UK visitor—since installing its second flag counter
plug-in—on June 20, 2020, as reported on the Bulletin Board page.
(Photo: Royal Air Force via X @RoyalAirForce)

(All photographs on this website are copyright J-HangarSpace
unless otherwise stated.)

Being prepared for unveiling: The long-awaited
JMSDF Squadron Histories Part 4
Parts in process: The run-up to and early days of the JASDF
Under tarp in corner of hangar: More base histories

2024

Feb. to Mar.	Where Are They Now? sections updated
Feb.	Japan Coast Guard Disposition/Aircraft Data pages updated

2023

Sept.	Aircraft Roll Call pages
Apr.	Nara added to JASDF Base Histories

Aireview Magazine 1951–2023

(Sept. 15, 2023) As a past very occasional contributor, J-HangarSpace was notified today that the long-standing aviation magazine Aireview is to cease publication. The December 2023 issue (No. 963), which goes on sale on October 20, will be its last. Known to the Japanese as Kōkū Jōhō (Aviation Information), the magazine first appeared in October 1951. An “obituary” appears on the Bulletin Board page.

Hien 6117 Uncovered

To mark the aircraft having been certified as an Important Aviation Heritage Asset on March 25, 2023, the Japan Aeronautic Association (JAA) released a lavish book on the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien displayed at the Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum.

As the announcement of the book’s release on the JAA website shows (link), the book is available through:
Office HANS, Hiro 2-9-39, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0012, Japan
Phone: +81 3-3400-9611 / Fax: +81 3-3400-9610
E-mail: ofc5hans@m09.alpha-net.ne.jp
and amazon.co.jp.

The price is 11,000 yen (incl. tax).

Having been very closely involved in the production of the book, J-HangarSpace merely added more details rather than a review to the Aviation Books: Bilingual/Historical section on the Magazines/Books page. The aircraft itself comes under scrutiny on the page dedicated to the Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum

See May 2024 Bulletin Board story: Hien and Human Interest Interlude

2022

Nov.	Japanese Aviation History page: Toyotarō Yamagata
Aug	Kawasaki C-1 Retrospective Sitrep (on JASDF Aircraft Roll-Call page)
Mar.-May	Doctor-Heli data file page update and upgrade

Flying Colours

One of a spate of special markings as 2022 came to a close, this 305th TFS F-15J was the centre of
attraction at the Nyutabaru air show. For details of these temporary colour schemes and a
newly designed unit marking, see the December 2022 stories on the Bulletin Board page.
(Photo: JASDF Nyutabaru AB via Twitter @JASDF_Nyutabaru)

Hiroshima Happenstance

In the latest of the very occasional additions to the Japanese Aviation History page, J-HangarSpace sheds light on the story behind a pilot’s statue chanced upon during a visit to Hiroshima in September 2022.

Latest Addition to Famous Airplanes of the World Special Edition Series

In yet another departure from the norm, the ninth and latest (August 2022) title in the Famous Airplanes of the World Special Edition series focuses not on an aircraft from history but on a type that is still in JASDF service. J-HangarSpace has added more information on this publication’s 168 pages to the Magazines/Books page and a Kawasaki C-1 Retrospective/Sitrep photo story to the Bulletin Board page.

Chitose Air Show 2022

(Photo: JASDF Chitose AB via Twitter @jasdf_chitose)

On July 31, 2022, Chitose AB staged its first air show in three years; a report can be found on the Bulletin Board page. Information on the markings carried specially for the occasion on four of the based aircraft is provided on the JASDF Squadron Histories Part 1 (under the 203rd TFS) and Part 3 (Chitose ARS) pages.

Airfield Café Calls Time on Aircraft Exhibits

(Photo: tujimon via Twitter @orapo860)

Having over 35 years become something of an institution, the Airfield Café in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, divested itself of its last JASDF airframe leftovers. A June 2022 story on the Bulletin Board page provided more of the back story.

Two IJNAF Reconnaissance Aircraft Titles Launched 

The second of two consecutive titles on IJNAF reconnaissance types in Bunrindo’s Famous Airplanes of the World series, that on the Type 0 Reconnaissance Floatplane (aka the Aichi E13A and Jake) will be an essential addition to many an aviation book collection. For more information and some photos to whet the appetite, check out the June 2022 IJNAF Double Bill stories on the Bulletin Board page.

Signs of Air Show Revival, with Limitations

(Image: JASDF Ashiya AB via X @jasdf_ashiya)

On April 28, 2022, the above poster provisionally announced September 4 as the planned date for the Ashiya air show. As reported in a Bulletin Board entry for April, some JASDF bases were gradually making plans for a limited air show season, the limitations extending in this case to a maximum of 10,000 spectators. Located in a rural area, Ashiya does not normally attract large numbers, but should the novelty of an air show result in the event being over-subscribed, a lottery was to be conducted. More details of that and the show’s content were provided on the base’s website at the end of June.

Starfighter in Solitary

Some of the more fortunate Phantoms might have been dispersed to new homes at the start of their
retirements, but a March 2022 Bulletin Board entry charts the service career and astounding
38-year survival of one of only four more or less intact F-104DJ Starfighters in Japan.
(Photo [April 2021]: みきとん「三喜屯」via Twitter @mikiton_k)

Ashiya 60th Anniversary T-4

(Photo [Mar. 2, 2022]: わらさん via Twitter @heiheiwarawara)

Although a ceremony and photo call was held on December 2, 2021, and a based UH-60J decorated for a dual celebration last summer (see below), it was March 2022 before a specially marked T-4 appeared. More details of its markings can be found in the 13th Flying Training Wing entry on the JASDF Squadron Histories Part 2 page. It was expected that this aircraft would be retained as was in anticipation of an air show appearance or two.

2021

Dec.	Police Aviation Unit data file page update and upgrade
Sept.	Fire/Disaster Prevention data file page update and upgrade
Apr.	JMSDF Squadron Histories & Markings Part 3
Mar.	JMSDF Squadron Histories & Markings Part 2
Feb.	JMSDF Where Are They Now? update and upgrade
Jan.	JGSDF Where Are They Now? update and upgrade

Helicopter Hieroglyphs Deciphered

Yamagata Air Rescue’s AW139 Mogami
(Photo [August 2019, Tochigi Heliport]: 祥 via Twitter @rescue60k)

In September 2021, J-HangarSpace finally expanded the coverage of the Fire/Disaster Prevention data file page. This now includes more stunning photos and, in what is possibly/modestly a world first, detailed information on the markings, for the most part pictorial symbols, carried by the helicopters in the municipal and prefectural aviation units. The Doctor-Heli Network page underwent the same course of treatment in the first half of 2022.

The Shizuoka Air Commuter-operated AW109SP GrandNew that serves Niigata University
Medical & Dental Hospital, one of two Doctor-Heli operations in the prefecture.
(Photo [April 2022]: TA_KU via Twitter @ta_ku_nkn073)

A dual JASDF anniversary milestone that prompted the application of special markings in 2021 was
the diamond jubilee of Ashiya AB and its resident Ashiya Air Rescue Squadron. This photo of the
white tiger-striped UH-60J only partly told the story; photos of the full versions of the two
schemes can be found in the Bulletin Board entry for July 15 and the Ashiya ARS entry 
on the JASDF Squadron Histories Part 3 page. (Photo [Ashiya, Aug. 31, 2021]:
まえちゅう@解離性被害の飛行機 via Twitter @reborn_genkai15)

The first new feature content event of 2021 was the uploading of JMSDF Squadron Histories & Markings Part 2, which was closely followed by Part 3 in April.

(Photo [Port of Iwakuni, July 18, 2017]: U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Stephen Campbell) 

Bird on a wire. A JMSDF HSS-2B deploys its magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) “bird” somewhere
over the Pacific in the late 1980s. The stripe marking shows this to be an aircraft assigned
ro the 121st Fleet Air Squadron (FAS), one of six covered in the third part of
JMSDF Squadron Histories & Markings. (Photo: JMSDF)

A rare shot of a JMSDF U-36A with its braking parachute deployed.
(Photo [Iwakuni, May 2021]: カメちゃんvia Twitter @kame_cvw_5

(Photo [JASDF Ashiya AB, Sept. 1975]: Takao Kadokami)

The first two months of 2021 were devoted to upgrading the JGSDF and JMSDF Where Are They Now? pages. These now include information on former SDF aircraft that have ended up outside Japan, such as the JGSDF LM-1s in the United States, the fates of the JMSDF’s MH-53E helicopters and, going way back, the Grumman UF-2 Albatross and S2F-1 Tracker aircraft that likewise headed across the Pacific.

Then assigned to the Western Army Aviation Squadron, the first-built Fuji LM-1 has its engine run 
up on the apron at its Takayubaru home base in March 1976. Passed to civilian ownership
following its return to the United States, this aircraft’s last-known registration (N6335W)
was cancelled in 2018. (Photo: Takao Kadokami)

2020

Dec.	JASDF Where Are They Now? update and upgrade
July	Tactical Fighter Training Group (Aggressor Sqn) dedicated page
May	Expanded JGSDF Squadron Histories coverage divided into two parts Bulletin Board back numbers split into two-year installments
Mar.	Review of Famous Airplanes of the World Special Edition Vol. 7:                          Pictrial [sic] History of Japanese Army 47th Flying-Sentai
Jan.	Location Report 10: Pacific War Museum, Guam
	Museum Visit 12: Tokorozawa Aviation Museum (dedicated page)

(Photo [Komatsu, Sept. 2018]: i北陸 [i-Hokuriku] / Hokuriku region official event and
tourist destination blog [link])

New from July 2020 is a page dedicated to a history of the Tactical Fighter Training Group at Komatsu, which marked its 40th anniversary of its formation as a T-2 “aggressor” unit in 2021. The coverage includes the origin of the recent distinctive lionfish marking on the F-15DJ shown above and the methods used in its creation. (See also the Bulletin Board entries for August 28, 2020 and November 2020.)

Shown above, The Nakajima Type 91 at the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum (TAM), Saitama Prefecture, is historically important for two reasons: as the sole survivor of the around 450 that were produced in two versions and as an example of one of the few Japanese-produced aircraft of the 1930s aircraft that remains in the same condition now as it was then. In Jnauray 2020, J-HangarSpace added a dedicated page that vistors can refer to as they wander around TAM’s exhibits.

Location Report 10 (January 2020)

Recognize the aircraft type of this relic? By way of a brief departure from its standard Japan-based coverage, and shortly before the COVID-19 shutters came down, J-HangarSpace brought you an on-location report from the Pacific War Museum on the Micronesian island of Guam.

2019

June	Review of Welcome Aboard: Memorabilia from the Early Years of Air Journeys
May	Review of Bunrindo mook on 302nd TFS
Feb.	Initial version of JASDF Squadron Histories Part 3 completed

The 2019 retirement of the OH-6D meant that the barnstorming displays of the type at JGSDF
open days had passed into history. The type’s departure from the ranks also prompted a 
long-overdue upgrade to the content of this website’s JGSDF Squadron Histories page.
(Photo [Akeno, Nov. 2019]: JGSDF/10th AvSqn)

Naha-based KV-107IIA-5 crew members dash to their aircraft at Kadena AB during Exercise Cope
Angel in October 1980. J-HangarSpace includes information on Air Rescue Wing units on the
JASDF Squadron Histories Part 3 page. (Photo: U.S. Air Force/Tech Sgt Michael E. Daniels)

2018

Nov.	JASDF Squadron Histories Part 2 gradually being uploaded
Oct.	Japan Coast Guard Operations: Sendai Air Station visit
Aug.	Review of Famous Airplanes of the World Special Edition Vol. 7:                                                 Army Type 2 Two-Seat Fighter Toryu (Nick)
July	Illustrated listing of helicopter-capable ships added to updated Japan Coast Guard Disposition page
June	Illustrated listing of helicopter-capable ships added to upgraded JMSDF Order of Battle page
	JASDF Order of Battle page photo content upgraded
May	Kanoya Emily Chronology (Japanese Aviation History page)
	Review of Famous Airplanes of the World No. 184:                                                 Type 2 (Emily) Flying Boat (link)
	Museum Visit 11: Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum (dedicated page includes account of Hien and its restoration)
Apr.	Museum Visit 10: Aichi Museum of Flight Plus Nagoya Airport Air & Space Museum (Oct. 2000 visit)

Japan Coast Guard Sendai Air Station Report

Having already visited a Japan Coast Guard (JCG) air station for the Location Reports page (Haneda, Nov. 11, 2016), the detailed coverage on the J-HangarSpace JCG Operations page kicked off with an October 2018 visit to Sendai Air Station in the service’s 70th anniversary year.

JASDF Squadron Histories Revisited

In early October 2018, the 2nd Tactical Airlift Group revealed a specially marked C-1—featured on the cover of the January 2019 issue of Kōkū Fan magazine (above) and here (link)—to commemorate the 60th anniversary of its formation as the then Air Transport Wing (see also Bulletin Board for Oct. 21, 2018). Coincidentally, at around that time J-HangarSpace finally started to complete some JASDF support and training squadron histories. The texts and accompanying photos were gradually uploaded to the newly added Squadron Histories Part 2 page. These were followed in due course by content updates and photo upgrades to Part 1 and the same treatment given to the JMSDF pages.

Well Worth the Wait No. 2

Despite having been busy reprinting selected titles on Japanese types from its regular Famous Airplanes of the World series, adter 28 years publisher Bunrindo produced a reworked and expanded Special Edition version on an important and popular aircraft (link).

Well Worth the Wait No. 1

The first Famous Airplanes of the World title to cover a Japanese subject in quite a while finally hit the streets at the end of March 2018. Back in September 2010, it had been the turn of the ShinMaywa US-1 to come in for some lavish treatment. (See Bulletin Board story dated July 30, 2020, for the latest Japanese-subject addition to the regular series.)

Museum of Maritime Science, Tokyo, July 1998

This time, the popular choice of aircraft offered J-HangarSpace the chance to make a comparison with an earlier version (No. 49), which was published way back in November 1994, and to include some photos in the mix (link). 

The book release also prompted the compilation of a chronology of the 75-year history of the Kanoya Emily, which was added the Japanese Aviation History page. 

JMSDF Kanoya, June 2007 (Photo: Max Smith via Wikimedia Commons).

A Brace of  New Museums Visited in April 2018

While in the area in early April 2018, J-HangarSpace also paid a visit to the only recently reopened and rebranded Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum. Here visitors can, in almost church-like surroundings, gather to show due reverence to the hallowed Hien fighter, the only one of its kind in Japan (above). A taster appeared on the Bulletin Board notice for March 24, 2018, but clicking on the Gifu-Kakamigahara button on the left will take you to a dedicated report page. An account of the Hien and its restoration follows the museum report. 

The report also includes a review of a book (above)—published to coincide with the reopening—that offers readers of Japanese a behind-the-scenes look at a museum created to exhibit domestically produced aircraft that carved their place in history.

J-HangarSpace posted a report (link) from an April 4, 2018, visit to the Aichi Museum of Flight (above and mentioned in the Bulletin Board entry for November 30, 2017). Added at the end of the report is a look back at its low-profile forerunner, the Nagoya Airport Air and Space Museum, which also featured a Zero but closed after nearly 20 years in 2004

2017

Nov.	Museum Visit 9: JGSDF Tachikawa Army Camp Museum
Oct.	Displayed Aircraft Special Report 3: JGSDF Kisarazu KV-107II-4A
	Review of book on F-2B added
Sept.	Museum Visit 8: JGSDF Kisarazu Army Camp Museum
Apr.	Second feature for Japanese Aviation History (pre-1945) page: Japan Aeronautic Association (JAA) Aviation Heritage Archive and Important Aviation Heritage Asset certifications
Feb.	Location Report 9: Tokyo Heliport
Jan.	First JMSDF Squadron Histories (Sqn Nos. 1-31) uploaded

Japan’s Newest Aviation Museum Visited

In October 2017, J-HangarSpace finally managed to find the time to file its latest roving report, from the new aviation museum at JGSDF Kisarazu Army Camp, Chiba Prefecture (link), which had been officially opened on February 25, 2017. The collection’s KV-107II-4A is featured in the third Displayed Aircraft Special Report that follows the JGSDF Where Are They Now? section (link).

For the second feature on its Japanese Aviation History (to 1945) page (link), J-HangarSpace focuses on the work of the little-known Japan Aeronautic Association (JAA) Aviation Heritage Archive and some of the aircraft, from the TAM Type 91 to the Misawa Aviation & Science Museum Tachikawa Ki-54 (below), that have received certification under the JAA’s Important Aviation Heritage Asset programme.

(Photo: Yukio Suzuki, Executive Director, Japan Aviation Journalists’ Association)

Staying with the JGSDF museum theme, a report on J-HangarSpace’s November 2017 visit to Tachikawa can be found here (link).

Continuing the theme of the previous report, J-HangarSpace took a tour of Tokyo Heliport on a sunny February afternoon to bring you Location Report 9. Visits to three of the resident operators provided a rare look behind the scenes and offer visitors to J-HangarSpace a taste of the reports and features to come on the pages covering the Police Aviation Units, Fire/Disaster Prevention and the Doctor-Heli Network.

2016

Dec.	Location Report 8: Japan Coast Guard Haneda Air Station
	Bulletin Board moved from homepage to dedicated page
Sept.	Reviews of books on X-2 and F-104J/DJ added
Apr.	Interim JGSDF Squadron Histories page uploaded
Mar.	SDF Orders of Battle pages updated
Feb.	JCG says sayonara to its final Bell 212  (see Aircraft Data File)
	Feature on Hien restoration project added, combined with news of Kakamigahara Aerospace Science Museum refurbishment plans
Jan.	Aircraft programmes updated

Many passengers travelling on the Tokyo Monorail that connects Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport with the city’s Hamamatsucho Station will have caught sight of an unassuming hangar close to Seibijo (‘maintenance area’) Station emblazoned with
the name Japan Coast Guard above the doors. Thanks to a fortunate chain of events, J-HangarSpace was able to join a 15-strong group that was granted a tour of the facility for Location Report 8.

2015

Dec.	Magazines/Books page updated
June	Fifth JMSDF base history (Kanoya) added
Feb.	Japan Coast Guard Aircraft Data File (Ver1.0) added
Jan.	Sample JASDF base histories (Akita, Ashiya) added
	Magazines/Books page launched

2014

Dec.	Principal JASDF fighter squadron histories/markings added
Nov.	Museum Visit 7: Zero Fighter Museum (Kawaguchiko Aviation Hall)
June	Where Are They Now? by prefecture guide added (here)
	Museum Visit 6: JGSDF Kasumigaura Public Information Center
May	Location Report 7: Japan Ministry of Defense, Tokyo
	JMSDF Aircraft Profiles/Nose to Tail photos: Kawasaki P-1
	Location Report 6: U.S. NAF Atsugi (Kawasaki P-1)
Apr.	Location Report 5: Cherry Blossom Festival, Kumagaya AB
	Displayed Aircraft Special Report 2: Herb World Akita’s UH-1H
	Report from MHI/Nagoya Aerospace Systems’ Komaki Plant museum
Mar.	Report from Mitsu Seiki museum collection, Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture
	Location Report 4: ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd., Kobe (US-1A)
Feb.	Displayed Aircraft Special Report 1: Crossland Oyabe’s KV-107II

Every August, the Zero Fighter Museum (Kawaguchiko Aviation Hall) in Yamanashi Prefecture offers the general public a time-limited chance to check on the status of its restoration projects and other treasures. J-HangarSpace’s report focuses on the collection’s unique restored/reverse-engineered fuselage of a Mitsubishi G4M2 Betty bomber. 

Of all the displays at the JGSDF Public Information Center at Kasumigaura Army Camp in Ibaraki Prefecture, perhaps the most fascinating are those covering its time as an Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force (IJNAF) base.
The June 2014 addition to the Aviation Museum page reveals more. 

Marking a slight departure from the normal coverage, the May 2014 Location Report 7
had J-HangarSpace joining a group tour of the Ministry of Defense compound in Tokyo.

Location Report 6 was from the 2014 Spring Festival at the U.S. Naval Air Facility
(NAF) Atsugi. There J-HangarSpace was able to photograph Kawasaki P-1
patrol aircraft on the ground and, an added bonus, in the air. 

Part air show report, part museum visit, J-HangarSpace’s fifth Location Report came
from the annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Kumagaya AB in Saitama Prefecture.

In February 2014, the museum collection at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Komaki
South Plant became the fifth to be visited by J-HangarSpace. Among the gems on
dispaly are a restored J8M1 Shusui interceptor and A6M5 Zero Type 52 fighter.
Note: This facility closed its doors in June 2017. The exhibits were moved
to what is primarily intended as an educational facility for MHI
employees at the company’s Oe Plant. 

Recognize this engine? J-HangarSpace’s fourth aviation museum report came from the
collection entrusted to Mitsu Seiki Co., Ltd., a company that has carved itself several
niches in the precision engineering industry from its base in Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture.

One of the JMSDF’s two remaining ShinMaywa US-1A rescue amphibians returned to
its birthplace for the last time in February 2014. J-HangarSpace was present to
witness two days of test flying that involved takeoffs and landings at sea
for Location Report 4.

To mark the 60th anniversary of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, J-HangarSpace conducted a census of retired SDF aircraft. See the end of the JGSDF Where Are They Now? page for details of two results from that census. (Note that the Herb World Akita aircraft has since been removed.)
(Photos: CROSSLAND OYABE [above], Herb World Akita [below])

2013

Dec.	Special report from National Museum of Nature & Science, Tokyo
Nov.	Chronology of Events (Ver 1.0) added to Early SDF History page
Oct.	Location Report 3: SDF Review ceremony, Asaka
	Report on preserved Fuji T-1B added to Aviation Museums (see above)
	Prototype Japanese Aviation History article (see above) completed
Sept.	Location Report 2: Gunma Heliport, Maebashi
	Report from Tokyo Fire Museum filed under Aviation Museums
	Location Report 1: ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd., Kobe (US-2)

 

J-HangarSpace’s last feature of 2013 covered a special exhibition at the well-known Tokyo home of a Mitsubishi Zero fighter, the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno Park. Part of the Japan Aeronautic Association’s centenary celebrations, the exhibition showcased some fascinating memorabilia and evocative images from bygone eras of Japanese civil aviation. 

This JMSDF ShinMaywa US-1A rescue amphibian was one of 50 aircraft that took part in
the flypast at the 2013 SDF Review ceremony. See Location Report 3  for more details.

The October 2013 addition to the aviation museum section involved a visit to the
SUBARU service centre that has a Fuji T-1B as its very own gate guard.

Kumazo Hino steps out of Yoshitoshi Tokugawa’s shadow in J-HangarSpace’s debut
Japanese aviation history topic (here). The article reports from the monument to the
two men instrumental in sowing the seeds of Japanese aviation development by
being the first to fly heavier-than-air machines in the country.