Japan's first jet fighter flew just one day after Hiroshima

Cultures · Published 11 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In August 1945, as the war reached its final hours, Japan unveiled its first turbojet-powered aircraft. Though it never saw combat, the Nakajima Kikka represents a desperate technological leap—a fusion of captured German engineering and a frantic push for survival against an overwhelming industrial tide.

The Nakajima Kikka (or 'Tachibana flower') was born from a 1942 Japanese military attaché's report on Nazi Germany's Messerschmitt Me 262. While the Kikka shared some DNA with the German jet, it was not a copy. It featured a more compact airframe, straight wings instead of swept ones, and lacked the characteristic triangular fuselage cross-section of its predecessor. The Japanese Navy specifically requested an aircraft capable of 430 mph that could carry a 1,100-pound bomb, with foldable wings to hide it in tunnels during home-island defenses.

Engineering was plagued by scarcity. Japan received only incomplete blueprints and photographs of the BMW 003 engine after losing several shipments at sea. Designers initially considered motorjets but eventually settled on the Ishikawajima Ne-20 axial-flow turbojet. To save time, they adapted landing gear from the A6M Zero and a Yokosuka P1Y bomber. The aircraft was so versatile it was intended as a tactical bomber, an interceptor armed with 30mm cannons, and even a potential kamikaze weapon—though its complexity made that role questionable compared to simpler alternatives.

The Kikka's history is defined by a singular moment: its maiden flight on August 7, 1945. The second test flight occurred four days later, just before Japan's surrender. During this attempt, rocket-assisted take-off (RATO) units caused the aircraft to lurch onto its tail, resulting in a hard landing that damaged the prototype. Only one Kikka was completed before the war ended, though at least 23 other airframes were in various stages of construction when the conflict ceased.

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