Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1452

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.2 linear feet (i volume)

Language:

Japanese

Preferred Citation:

Japanese aviator photograph album, 1931-1944, Ms. Coll. 1452, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1931-1944 (inclusive)

Form:

Photographs and Photograph albums

Abstract:

During the early 20th century, the Imperial Japanese Navy was responsible for training pilots. During World War II, wartime attrition contributed to reductions in selectiveness for pilot training, as well as the length of the training sessions. This scrapbook contains photographs collected by a Japanese fighter pilot during World War II. It catalogs his graduation as a "Hikou-renshuusei" (enlistee/NCO pilot trainee) and his subsequent deployment as a fighter pilot.

During the early 20th century, the Imperial Japanese Navy was responsible for training pilots. Until 1914 this training was highly selective, open only to officers who graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. Eventually, however, the pool of candidates was expanded: first to NCOs (1914) and then to all enlisted Navy personnel (1920). During World War II, as attrition badly affected the Imperial Navy, the demand for replacements contributed to reductions in selectiveness for pilot training, as well as the length of the training sessions. However, distinctions between officers and NCO/enlisted men remained, at least in title. Officers were referred to as "Hikou-gakusei" ("Flight students"), while NCOs and enlisted men were called "Hikou-renshuusei" ("Flight trainees").

This scrapbook contains photographs collected by a Japanese fighter pilot during World War II. It catalogs his graduation as a "Hikou-renshuusei," a pilot trainee who was either an enlisted man or a NCO, and his subsequent deployment as a fighter pilot. The photographs are a mix of casual and formal shots, and include pictures of locations on and around Kyushu, as well as action shots of pilots and planes. There is a stray photograph labelled "1931," but information from the majority of the photographs suggest a significantly later date (circa 1945). The photographs provide documentation of the daily life and routine of an enlistee/NCO fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy during the final stages of the war.