1925 First Japan-Europe Flight Commemorative Watch Fob/大正十四年七月大阪朝日新聞社訪欧大飛行記章

See also https://asiamedals.info/threads/1925-first-japan-europe-flight-commemorative-table-medal.29664/.

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訪欧 - Visit to Europe

飛行記章 - Flight Badge

朝日新聞社催 - Organized by Asahi Shimbun https://asiamedals.info/threads/asahi-shimbun-badges-and-watch-fobs.23555/

大正十四年七月 - July 1925

 

This pioneering trip was sponsored by Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s oldest newspapers. They bought the two Breguet 19 aircraft, fitted them with additional fuel tanks and named them Hatsukaze (First Wind) and Kochikaze (East Wind). The pilots were Yusun Abe Hiroshi and Kawachi Kazuhiko and the engineers Shinohara Shunichiro and Katagiri Shohei.
They took off from Tokyo’s Yoyogi Parade Ground on 25th July, 1925, on a route that took them over China and Siberia, visiting Moscow, Berlin, Paris, London and Brussels. They reached Rome on October 27th having travelled more than 10,000 miles in just under 111 hours of flying time.​

A special issue of the Osaka Asahi Shimbun was devoted to this flight.

 

Clip from the Soviet newspaper Power of Labor, 1925 No. 151(1657), July 5.

JAPANESE SQUADRON.

(Interview with squadron representatives: Saburo Arai and Yerimichi Nakayama).

The newspapers "Osaka-Asahi" and "Tokyo Asahi" are sending an air squadron to the USSR on July 25. Two aircraft of the French "Braguet" system are flying. They have 400 horsepower "Lorraine" engines.The squadron will cover a distance of 9260 kilometers along the route: Tokyo - Osaka - Hunuoke - Heijō - Harbin - Chita - Irkutsk - Krasnoyarsk - Novonikolaevsk - Kurgan - Krasnoufimsk - Moscow.If the flight conditions are quite favorable, it will last 10 days (the squadron plans to be in Moscow on August 3). But this is unlikely to happen due to variable weather.
"Braguet" aircraft can fly non-stop for 10 hours. The maximum speed is 170 kilometers per hour. Gasoline supplies will arrive from Moscow in a few days, lubricating oil (castor oil) - from Harbin. At several points along the way there are spare parts of the squadron. In addition, there is a spare plane in Japan.The purpose of the flight is to establish friendly relations with the USSR. Japanese pilots have not yet flown outside their country. Therefore, the flight will also demonstrate the technical capabilities of Japanese aviation.The squadron is flying two sensors (Ave and Kavach) and two flight mechanics (Sinowara and Katagiri). The commander is pilot Ave. None of them speaks Russian.From Moscow, the squadron plans to go to Paris - Marseille and from there, boarding a steamer - to Japan by sea. The other day, representatives were at the Irkutsk airfield - inspecting. The airfield is quite suitable for landings.​

 

Cased watch fob in near mint condition.

Original case.

訪欧大飛行記章 - Grand Flight to Europe Badge

大阪朝日新聞社 - Osaka Asahi Shimbun

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大阪淀屋橋 - Yodoyabashi, Osaka

尚美堂製 - Made by Shobido

Watch fobs were manufactured by Shobido workshop in Osaka https://asiamedals.info/threads/mark-on-japanese-orders-who-and-when.25816

 

E-sugoroku "Great European Visit Commemorative Flight Game/Ōhō daihikō kinen hikō yūgi" that was published as a supplement to the Asahi Shinbun issue of December 10, 1925.

Size 79 x 54 cm.

In the center is a view of the eastern hemisphere overlaid with dramatic images of the two bi-planes. Flags and pictorial elements reflect the various stops along the way. The pilots (Yusun Abe Hiroshi and Kawachi Kazuhiko) and the engineers (Shinohara Shunichiro and Katagiri Shohei) are pictured at the upper right. The image doubles as a sugoroku, a form of board game popular in Japan (as well as in the West), in which players compete to retrace the visits of the historic flight and arrive first in Rome.