BARON MIYAHARA AND HIS WORLD OF AIRCRAFT

Contact at 12-21 Tamagawa, Denenchofu I-Chome, Setagaya-Ku, Tokyo, 158-0085, Japan. E-mail fujitatoshi@nifty.com 207pp, 185×250mm, softback,

ISBN 9784901794046

 

This is the second volume of the prolific photographic memoirs of a remarkable man, discovered after his death, together with his diaries, and collated by leading Japanese aviation historians. It is captioned in both English and Japanese. Born in 1904 into an aristocratic family, which secured him introductions to all the famous, he studied Aeronautical Engineering at Glasgow University and then worked at Westland before going home via the United States. His whole working life was in aviation. Latterly he designed micro lights and gliders. There are some wonderful pictures of mainly British and French military aircraft from World War I imported into Japan in the twenties. The ones purchased got Japanese names – for example, the Nieuport 29 was designated the Ko-shiki Model 4 Fighter by the Army. Some were manufactured locally. The French did better than the British with the Army, the British with the Navy. Looking at these pictures, my first impression is of how imitative Japanese engineering was in the early days. How quickly they learnt!

 

GM, Volume 40 Number 1