Man’s Jacket (Haori) with the Flight of the Kamikaze Plane

Man’s Jacket (Haori) with the Flight of the Kamikaze Plane

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The flight of the Kamikaze (Divine Wind) plane from Tokyo to London in April 1937, sponsored by the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, was intended to commemorate the coronation of King George VI, but it also served as a benchmark of modernity for Japan. It became the first Japanese plane to set an international speed record (the flight was completed in just over 51 hours), and the first aircraft produced with all Japanese technology. Thanks to this performance, the Mitsubishi Company, which had developed the motor for the plane, gained the contract to build the Zero, one of the best-known fighter planes of the war years.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Man’s Jacket (Haori) with the Flight of the Kamikaze PlaneMan’s Jacket (Haori) with the Flight of the Kamikaze PlaneMan’s Jacket (Haori) with the Flight of the Kamikaze PlaneMan’s Jacket (Haori) with the Flight of the Kamikaze PlaneMan’s Jacket (Haori) with the Flight of the Kamikaze Plane

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.