Jiro Horikoshi- a man of genius whose name is certainly an important one in the history of aircraft. Unfortunately, his best creation is associated with one of the darkest chapters of history. Before jumping into that story, let's first take a look at this ingenious man's life.
Jiro's dream and desire revolved around aeroplane ever since his childhood. He had to give up on his childhood dream of being a pilot because of being nearsighted. But he came to know that it was possible to work with aeroplanes even without being a pilot- by designing them. Thus he found the passion of his life that would lead him to accomplish his dream followed by the upcoming events of ups and downs.
Born in 1903, Jiro was growing up in the time when Japan was slowly adapting to the western technology. In his early 20s, he started studying at Tokyo University in the newly opened aviation program. But the Kanto Earthquake of 1923 put a hold to life. The earthquake took place in the afternoon when most of the houses were cooking lunch. The flame set Tokyo on fire causing a number of death. Higher education could not be pursued in that aftermath of disaster for a period of time.
Lots of students could not continue their studies later for the responsibility of supporting their families financially. But since Jiro's family lived far from Tokyo in Fujioka, Gunma, they weren't at loss and Jiro continued his study at the university after it opened again.
He began his career at 24 by working for Mitsubishi. His dream was to create passenger plane the concept of which was beginning to seem possible at that time. Now, Mitsubishi needed government fund to survive in the field but the then Imperial Japan's goal was not to fund for developing passenger plane- but to create faster aircrafts to give them the upper hand in wars. So, Jiro began designing and redesigning fighter planes.
Earlier, Japan was only copying the already invented plane designs. But to gain the upper hand in war, Japan needed something different. While the whole world disbelieved in Japan's ability to create something like that, Jiro Horikoshi made that possible. By 1940, after years of hard work, trial and failure, he finally succeeded in designing a plane that would reach maximum speed of 500 km/h. This plane was called the 'Zero Fighter'.
As you can guess from the timeline, WW2 was going on and Zero Fighter became the most powerful tool for Japan. In no time, Japan became the fear of its enemy countries. Unfortunately, the U.S. got hold of a Zero Fighter and found out its Achilles' heel- the thin metal body unable to protect the fuel tank from bullet. Taking this agile airship became only a matter of time for the U.S..
Facing this crisis, now more-desperate-than-ever Japan came up with the notorious 'Kamikaze Mission' where pilots were assigned to commit suicide by crashing into the American ships and destroying it.
Jiro Horikoshi designed Zero Fighter with the intention of reusing them after the war. He tried to ensure the most safety of the pilots and made the planes agile mostly to avoid attack. After the end of war, not a single Zero was left undestroyed.
I had always wondered what possibly could have triggered America so much to come up with the horrendous plan of dropping atomic bomb on Japan. Kamikaze mission gives an idea- of course not making that horrible decision look justifiable in any way. The world looked at the soldiers of Kamikaze Mission as if they were brainwashed by the Japanese empire when indeed, they were sacrificing their lives to save their loved ones, not for the Japanese empire. After the 'Pearl Harbor' and 'USS Bunker Hill' attack by Japan, people were made convinced than ever that Japan needed to be stopped at any cost and this cost was the lives of innocent people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Jiro was deeply depressed thinking his invention was causing so much destruction when clearly it was never his intention. After the war ended, he didn't go back to designing plane but joined as a professor at Tokyo University to teach young people who shared the same passion as him. His dream of boarding a passenger plane came true in 1970 by the trans-continental flight from Tokyo to New York.
Despite the destruction which wasn't the fault of the inventor but the greed of the ones with power, Jiro showed the world that Japan's ability was more than copying others' technologies. Now when we are told to name some of the countries with best technology, Japan comes in the first row. Jiro Horikoshi is sure to be known as one of the pioneers of that advancement.
A fun way to know more about his work is to watch the 2013 animated film 'The Wind Rises' directed by Hayao Miyazaki. I came to know about Jiro Horikoshi after watching this film and I was amazed at how simply yet beautifully his career was depicted in an animated film.
"The wind is rising! We must try to live."- Paul Valery
P.S.: Dates and timeline were collected from this amazing biographical video.