History of Aerial Photography in Japan

Abstract

In the 8th year of the reign of Taisho (1919), with the arrival of the French tutorial unit, the Japanese Army started its aerial photographing.
In the 12th year of Taisho (1923), the Shimoshizu military aviation school to which the French tutorial unit gave direct training, took aerial photographs of Tokyo immediately after the great Kanto earthquake. They played an important role in deciding the restoration plan. Triggered by this fact, 6 big cites including Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka took the aerial photographs for the use of city planning, in the following 13th year of Taisho. The military aviation schools carried out the job in the guise of the military training.
In the 8th year of Showa (1933), demands for the aerial photograph raised as application of the City Planning Act was extended to cover the new industrial cities. In the 12th year of Showa (1937) . the Japan-China war became intense and the cooperation from the military aviation schools went unattainable. The situation encouraged the birth of private companies undertaking the aerial photography. In the same year the Military Secret Protection Act was enacted and the aerial photographs were kept out of the public eyes as a part of military secrest. The city of Osaka has preserved the negatives taken in the years of 3rd and 6th of Showa in spite of the strict restriction and regulation of the Army.