This book provides a unique view of the development of military and
commercial aviation in Japan from the pioneering years before World War
I to the end of World War II. There are comparatively few books in
English that illustrate aviation in Japan in the years before World War
II. This is the first book to make extensive use of Japanese aviation
postcards to show how aviation in Japan grew from a dependence on
foreign aircraft designs and engineers in the early years to an
independent industry that produced world-class airplanes. The book uses
more than 250 postcards to trace the history of Imperial Japanese Army
and Navy aviation, and commercial aviation, during this thirty-five year
period. Each of the book's four chapters begins with a narrative survey
of key developments during the period covered. The postcards, some in
color and some in black and white, show both military and commercial
airplanes, many famous and some less so. Of particular interest to those
interested in Japanese military aviation in World War II will be a
number of postcards of wartime propaganda art.