| Tachikawa Aircraft Company Ltd | |
| Fate: | Assets seized during US occupation, spun off automotive unit (Prince); changed business towards real estate development, consumer electronics, automotive parts |
| Successor: | Tachihi K.K. |
| Foundation: | 1924 (as Ishikawajima Aircraft Manufacturing Company) |
| Defunct: | 1955 |
| Location City: | Tachikawa |
| Location Country: | Japan |
| Owner: | Ishikawajima Shipyards 1924-1936 Imperial Japanese Army 1936-1945 US Occupation authority 1945-1949 |
was an aircraft manufacturer in the Empire of Japan, specializing primarily in aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. It was based at Tachikawa, in Tokyo Prefecture.
In November 1924, Ishikawajima Shipyards (the future IHI Corporation) established a subsidiary company, the .
In 1936, the Imperial Japanese Army acquired a controlling interest in the company, and renamed it the Tachikawa Aircraft Company Ltd. The company manufactured a number of types, mostly training aircraft and fighters for the Imperial Japanese Army. Some were its own designs placed into full production, such as the Ki-9 and Ki-36. A number of others were either short-run specials, or prototypes that did not enter production, such as the Ki-77.
In 1940, the company received license-production rights to the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra which it produced as the Army Type LO transport. Tachikawa also produced aircraft designed by other Japanese manufacturers.
As with all Japanese manufacturers, production of all types ceased after the surrender of Japan to Allied forces in August 1945. The facilities of Tachikawa Aircraft had been severely damaged by bombing during the war, and most of its property, including its airfield, were seized by the American military and become part of the Tachikawa Air Base. Many of its engineers went to work for Nissan and Toyota, helping develop the technologies of the Japanese automobile industry. The Prince Motor Company (later acquired by Nissan) was a direct spin-out from the former Tachikawa Aircraft Company.[1]
During the occupation of Japan after the end of World War II, all of Japan's aerospace industry was dismantled, designs destroyed and plants converted to other uses. After the ban on aircraft development was lifted in November 1949, Tachikawa Aircraft was reconstituted as the .
Shin Tachikawa built prototype training aircraft, the R-52 and R-53 in the early 1950s. The R-52 was the first post-war, all-Japanese aircraft constructed.[2] However, neither aircraft were commercially successful and the company survived by making precision components for aircraft, and for non-aircraft related industries. In 1955, the company name was changed to to emphasize its lack of involvement with the aviation industry. Since 1976, after the return of a large amount of land occupied by the United States Air Force since the end of World War II, the company turned towards real estate development, consumer electronics, and the production of automotive parts.