In the years leading up to the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939, there was some significant collaborative development inheavy industry between German companies and their Japanese counterparts as part ofthe two nation's evolving relations. This was one major factor in Japan's ability to quickly exploit raw materials in the areas of theEmpire of Japan that had recently come under their military control.
Nippon Lurgi Goshi KK was a Japanese company of the period involved in Japanese-German cooperation. TheLurgi AG German industrial group was a partner, and it was the Lurgi office in Tokyo. TheCombined Intelligence Objectives Sub-committee of the United States and United Kingdom later investigated it.[1]
At the beginning of 1942 the Japanese acquired all the low temperaturecarbonization patents of Lurgi for Japan, Manchuria, and of China. The agreement gave the Japanese the right to construct plants and an exclusive use of patents. A flat payment of approximately 800,000Reichsmark, was received from the Japanese, this sum being cleared through the German government. One of the aims wassynthetic oil. For example, the South Sakhalin Mining and Railway Company plant atNaihoro/Oichai inKarafuto perhaps motivated the licensing: the southern Karafutobrown coal with a content of paraffin tar (about 15%), and low water content, was suitable forhydrogenation.
Ube Yuka Kogya KK (No.2), atUbe was a low temperature carbonization plant, with a syntheticammonia plant. This was a collaboration withHeinrich Koppers AG ofEssen.
It is known that Japan and Germany signed agreements on military technological collaboration, both before the 1939 outbreak of World War II, and during the conflict. However, the first air technology interchange occurred during World War I when Japan joined against Germany on the side of the Allies, and Germany lost aRumpler Taube aircraft atTsingtao, which the Japanese rebuilt as the Isobe Kaizo Rumpler Taube, as well as anLVG, known to the Japanese as the Seishiki-1, in 1916.
After the war had ended the Japanese purchased licences for theHansa-Brandenburg W.33 which was built as theYokosho Navy Type Hansa in 1922, and as theAichi Type 15-ko "Mi-go" in 1925.
During World War II the Japanese Navy traded aNakajima E8N "Dave" reconnaissanceseaplane (itself a multi-generational development of theVought O2U to Germany, later seen in British markings on the German raiderOrion, and some sources mention the probable dispatch of aMitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah", among other weapons.
In the other direction:
When it came to aircraft equipment, the Japanese Army fighterKawasaki Ki-61Hien ("Tony") used a licence-builtDaimler-Benz DB 601A engine which resulted in the Allies believing that it was either aMesserschmitt Bf 109 or an ItalianMacchi C.202Folgore until they examined captured examples. It was also fitted withMauser MG 151/20 20 mm cannons also built under licence.
According to decrypted messages from theJapanese embassy inGermany, twelve dismantledV-2 (A-4) rockets were shipped to Japan.[2] These leftBordeaux in August 1944 on theU-219 andU-195 and reachedDjakarta in December 1944.[3] Civilian V-2 expertHeinz Schlicke was a passenger on theU-234 when it departedKristiansand, Norway for Japan in May 1945, shortly before the war ended in Europe. The fate of these V-2 rockets is unknown.[citation needed]
There are other cases of military technology interchange. The Ho-RuSPG with 47 mm AT cannon, resembled the GermanHetzertank destroyer combined with wheel guide pins like theT-34. The heavy tank destroyersHo-Ri I and II, armed with a 105 mm cannon, seem to have been influenced by GermanJagd heavy tanksElefant andJagdtiger. TheType 4 Chi-To medium tank, armed with a 75 mm cannon, and theType 5 Chi-Ri medium tank, armed with 75 or 88 mm cannon, were influenced by thePanther,Tiger I, andTiger II German tanks. TheType 1 Ho-Hahalf-trackarmoured personnel carrier was similar to the GermanSd.Kfz. 251armoured fighting vehicle.
Japanese Ambassador GeneralHiroshi Ōshima in the name of Japanese Army bought one example of thePanzerkampfwagen PzKpfw VI Ausf E Tiger I tank with additional equipment.
The Japanese Navy received examples of the GermanType IXD2 submarineAusf "Monsun" and other submarines, including the Type IXC'sU-511 (RO-500) andU-1224 (RO-501), and after the German surrender, interned the Type IXD2'sU-181 (I-501) andU-862 (I-502), the captured Italian submarinesComandante Cappellini, (I-503), andLuigi Torelli (I-504), which had becomeForeign U-boatsUIT-24 andUIT-25, and theGerman Type X submarineU-219 (I-505), the Type IXD1U-195 (I-506). Japan also receivedFlakvierling anti-aircraft cannons, with a disarmedV-2, etc. as well.
Japanese Navy received later in last war stages from Germans, some advanced technology of Type XXI "Elektro-boote" class for designed The Sen Taka (submarine, high speed) and Sen Taka Sho (submarine, high speed, small) models, in high bursts of speed, could run faster submerged than on the surface for up to an hour, only comparable in underwater speed to theI-201-class was the German related sub type.
In 1935, a German technical mission arrived in Japan to sign accords and licenses to use the technology from theAkagi-class aircraft carrier for use in the German aircraft carriersGraf Zeppelin andFlugzeugträger B (both later cancelled) fromDeutsche Werke Kiel A.G.
They also acquired the technical data on the adaptations to theMesserschmitt Bf 109T/E andJunkers Ju 87C/E, for use on such carriers. This technology was also applied in the following aircraft:
To put this in perspective, the Japanese also bought licences and acquired aircraft (sometimes singly and sometimes in large quantities) from most of the western countries. These included the United Kingdom (with which it had a close relationship up until shortly after the end of World War I) and whoseDe Havilland aircraft were extensively used, France, who supplied a huge variety of aircraft of all types from 1917 through to the 1930s, and whoseNieuport-Delage NiD 29 fighter provided theJapanese Army Air Force with its first modern fighter aircraft, as well as the bias toward extremely manoeuvrable aircraft. The United States of America supplied theDouglas DC-4E andDouglas DC-5, theNorth American NA-16 (precursor to theT-6/SNJ) as well as others too many to list. This resulted in many Japanese aircraft being discounted as being copies of Western designs - which from 1935 onwards was rarely the case except for trainers and light transports where development could be accelerated, theNakajima Ki-201 andMitsubishi J8M being rare exceptions.
By 1944, Japan was to rely heavily on the Nippon-German Technical Exchange Agreement, obtaining manufacturing rights, intelligence, blueprints, and in some cases, actual airframes for several of Germany's new air weapons. These included theMe 163Komet (developed as theMitsubishi J8MShusui), theBMW 003 axial-flowjet engine (which was reworked to Japanese standards as theIshikawajima Ne-20), information on theMe 262 which resulted in theNakajima J9YKikka), data on theFiesler Fi-103R series (which culminated in the development of theKawanishi Baika), and even data on theBachem Ba 349Natter point-defense interceptor.[citation needed]
While the NakajimaKikka bore some resemblance to the German Me 262, it was only superficial, even though the Ne-20 engines which powered theKikka were the Japanese equivalent of the German BMW 003 engine which initially powered the Me 262 prototype. Also, theKikka was envisioned from the outset not as a fighter, but as a special attack bomber and was only armed with a bomb payload. It is wrongly considered that this aircraft registration was J9Y or J10N, although this aircraft was never registered.