Cub Driver writes:

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 13:21:27 +0900, Gernot Hassenpflug
wrote:

But Dan, have you seen any Japanese books that use the design names
for aircraft (A6M, Ki-67, etc.).

Now it gets interesting :-)

Actually, I have, but usually something like this: Type 44, referring
to a Ki-44 Shoki.

As in '44-shiki'? This doesn't make sense AFAIK,
http://yashico.cool.ne.jp/html/Ki44_CFS2.html
shows the designation as Army Type 2 single seat fighter.

I've also seen Type LO, referring to the Japan-built Lockheed Electra.
That was so usual, in fact, that I don't know its kitai number.

Again, what is `Type'? I suppose individual authors might have their
own formats also to write long names in simpler Roman letters but
abbreviated. Recalling, "ME" is often used for Messerschmitt Bf109,
and "FW" for Fw190. Nicknames were also common for Allied planes or
their derivatives in Japan, there is a propensity to shorten and
sometimes combine foreign words in Japanese to make a new Japanese
word. Maker was often used to denote the plane. Trying to think of an
example: The USN fighters were universally referred to as "Grumman" -
after 1943 this was synonymous with "Hellcat" which was also used. The
P-38 was simply "Lockheed", the B-29 I think was the "Boeing".

Interesting that western writers would deal with Japanese aircraft in
a style unfamiliar to the Japanese reader. What do they do when they
translate US and UK books back into Japanese? Is Renee Francillon's
book available in translation?

Good question. Short answer, I don't know. Francillon's book is not
available. Despite the debt Western readers owe him, in Japan there is
no shortage of books on these subjects, so translations are not really
an issue. For ships, the Anatomy of a Ship series by Janusz Skulski is
translated, often with corrections (Takao, Fuso, Yamato) to the
original english version. I do not see any A6M type designations
there.

Look, I've just finished moving, and got my books sort of unpacked
last night. I took out a couple of plane related books, one of which
is on the Pete and Claude. So I'll post what the general layout of the
names is tomorrow.

Cheers, till soon,
Gernot
--
G Hassenpflug * IJN & JMSDF equipment/history fan