Figure 1.-- The caption of this press photograph read, "Young Japanese learming how to fly: School boys and girls [we only see boys] of the Tokyo Military school watching aviator J.C. Mais [writing indistinct] during a flight at Tokyo early in April." There are girls in the photograph, but they are not pupils at the School. Notice the hairbows rather than cadet caps. Among these boys are the military commanders who led Japan into the Pacific war. The photograph was stamped May 5, 1911. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the audience.

The Wright Brothers in America conducted the first havier than air flight along the North Carolina coast (1903). The first air planes were flimsy affairs with very limited capabilities, including speed, range, and height. World militaries were interested, but given the linitations relatively little attention was given to aircraft before the War. Considerable improvemets were made in aviation during the early-20th century. Thus in the early-20th century when Western countries began assessing the military potential of the airplane. But no actual weapons were developed for aircraft before the War. The basic idea was to use the flimsy pre-War air craft as reconisance. The Japanese military and civilian industry followed these developments. Japan at the time did not have the capability of designing and building their own aircraft. Yoyogi Park in downtown Tokyo was before World War I a Imperial Japanese Army training ground -- Yoyogi Plain. It was used by the unit assigned to defend nearby Edo Castle. Yoyogi Plain was converted to a military training ground (1909.) The JapaneseArmy chose Capt. Kumazo Hino (1878–1946) to Germany and Capt. Yoshitoshi Tokugawa (1884–1963) to France to obtain information on military aviation (1910). They became Japan's first two pilot. Both were young enginners with no previous knowledge of aviation. When they returned to Japan they used Yoyogi Plain as a testing ground. , between December 13 and 19, 1910, that the pair of newly qualified pilots demonstrated two of the three state-of-the-art aircraft that they had purchased for the Japanese Army. Hino acuired a Grade Libelle (Dragonfly) monoplane. Tokugawa acquired a Henri Farman biplane and a Blériot. The first Japanese civilian-owned plane was purchased by a private individual (1910). It was similar to a plane designed and flown by the French aviator Henri Farman. The Tokugawa Balloon Factory began to build the plane on a limited basis (1911). We note boys from the Tokyo Military School Academy attending an air show by a Western flyer (1911). As in the West, there was no armament on these planes and no real idea about how to use military avition oter than reconnisance.

Created: 10:02 PM 4/23/2016
Last updated: 10:03 PM 4/23/2016