FY2011
Vol.23 Hosei University Collection Materials related to the flight of "Seinen Nihon-go" to Europe
October 20, 2011
FY2011On May 29, 1931, a small biplane, "Seinen Nippon-go," took off from the newly completed Tokyo Airfield (now Haneda Airport) for Rome, Italy. The pilot was Moritaka Kurimura, a second-year student in the Faculty of Economics, who belonged to Hosei University's Aeronautical Society (later to become the Aviation Department), and his flight instructor Ryotaro Kumagawa, a first-year student in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. According to newspaper reports at the time, tens of thousands of people gathered at the airport and more than 30 aircraft, including those of the Army and Navy, newspaper companies, and airline companies, flew in the sky to see off the "Young Japan".
The "Young Nippon-Go. The aircraft, measuring 9.8 meters in width and 7.52 meters in length, was manufactured by Ishikawajima Aircraft Works and equipped with a British-made Cirrus Harmes 105-horsepower engine. The plane was allowed to use the Tokyo Airfield, which was scheduled to open in August, for its departure. The departure was broadcast nationwide by announcer Kasai Sansei, who was known for his "Maehata Ganbare! Incidentally, May 29, the day of departure, was the birthday of Uchida Hyakuma (Moon on the gate).
Two years earlier, Katsuyoshi Nakano, a third-year student in the Faculty of Letters, established the first aviation research society at a Japanese university together with fellow alumnus Iwao Maeda, who had a private airplane and a second class pilot's license. At that time, it was Uchida Hyakken (Professor Uchida Eizo) who accepted the position of president, and it was Uchida who first planned the students' trip to Europe. With the support of the Aviation Department of the Asahi Shimbun, two airplanes, "Hosei Daigaku Kahasemi-go" and "Hosei Daigaku Hiyodori-go," were provided by the Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and the activity started. Nakano and Maeda graduated the following year, with Nakano joining Asahi Shimbun and Maeda joining Japan Airlines. Nakano joined the company's Aviation Department and supported the flight to Europe behind the scenes.
In front of the "Young Japan," Kurimura (left) and Kumagawa sign autographs. In selecting pilots from the Aeronautical Society of Japan, the conditions for selection were not only good piloting skills, but also good academic performance and conduct, and family circumstances permitting.
After this, aviation clubs were established one after another at universities such as Waseda, Senshu, Keio, and Meiji, and the Japan Student Aviation Federation was established in April 1930 at the urging of the Asahi Shimbun. In October, it was announced that the Federation would organize a student flight to Europe and that Hosei University's Aeronautical Society would send a pilot as a representative school of the Federation. In response, a preparatory committee for the student flight to Europe was set up within the university, and preparations for the flight proceeded. The aircraft was procured by Chairman Uchida and others at the request of the Kaiho Gikai, an affiliated organization of the Navy that provided aircraft to the private sector, and was named "Seinen Nippon-go," after a line from the school's song, "Seinen Nippon-go," which had appeared the previous year.
The "Seinen Nippon-go" took off from Haneda Airport with a white flag waved by Chairman Uchida himself as a signal, and flew visually with a map and compass from Siberia to the Urals, and then to Germany, England, and France, where it made a goodwill friendship flight, arriving at Littorio Airfield (now Urbe Airport) in Rome on August 31 after flying 13,671 km through the sky. The aircraft arrived at Rome's Littorio Airfield (now Urbe Airport) on August 31. Although it took more than three times as long as scheduled due to three emergency landings caused by engine malfunctions, it was a great flight, and is considered the accomplishment of the century.
A portion of a telegram exchanged between Kurimura and Chairman Uchida. During the flight, they frequently communicated by telegrams and letters written in Roman characters, and their contents convey the tense atmosphere of the flight. On the day after their arrival in Rome, Kurimura and the others wrote to Chairman Uchida, "We have arrived at the capital of Rome, just one road away. Wahaha," they telegraphed to Chairman Uchida. The phrase "One Road" is a pun on "One Road to Rama," a line from the "Song of Takeoff, Sending Students on a Flight to Europe," written by Haruo Sato. Above left is a letter from Chairman Uchida to the two astronauts returning home to Tokyo: "Bravo, Salamander (Kurimura's nickname), Bravo, Crocodile (Kumagawa's nickname). The joy of gumballation. Confusion
Hosei University has been collecting and organizing materials related to the flight to Europe for some time under the Hosei University Historical Materials Committee, and in March 2008, the University published "Hosei University Historical Materials, Vol. 29: Materials Related to the 1931 'Youth Nippon-go' Flight to Europe," a compilation of these materials. The collection includes materials from the Aviation Department, mainly telegrams and letters during the flight, materials from the Diplomatic Archives, related newspaper articles, round-table discussions with related parties, and "Rama Jugyo", a memoir by aviator Kurimura.
The "Young Nippon-go" arrived in Rome. In the center, wearing their flight uniforms, from left to right, are Astronauts Kurimura and Kumagawa. Ambassador to Italy Shigeru Yoshida can be seen next to aviator Kurimura. In Italy, the flight received a warm national welcome, was granted an audience with the Pope, and had a meeting with Prime Minister Mussolini, which was widely reported in the local newspapers.
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