Ukita Kōkichi

Ukita Kōkichi( _ja. 浮田 幸吉, 1757 - 1847?) was a Japanese aviation pioneer, who is said to make artificial wings and fly with them. He is considered to be the first Japanese who flew the sky. He is also known as Chōjin Kōkichi( _ja. 鳥人 幸吉/Kōkichi the birdman), Hyōgu-shi Kōkichi( _ja. 表具師 幸吉/Kōkichi the Paperhanger), Sakuraya Kōkichi( _ja. 櫻屋 幸吉), Bizen'ya Kōkichi( _ja. 備前屋 幸吉), Binkōsai( _ja. 備考斎).

Biography

He was born in 1757 during thee Edo period, in Hachihama,Kojima District, Bizen Province (now Hachihama, Tamano, Okayama) as the second son of Ukita(Sakuraya) Seibei( _ja. 浮田（櫻屋）清兵衛). When he was seven years old, his father died. Then he went to Okayama city and became an apprentice of Hyōgu-shi, paperhanger (maker of Shōji, Fusuma).

Ukita studied how birds fly. He finally concluded, "Compute the ratio of wing's area to body's weight and use that ratio to create an artificial wing. Humans may use them to fly like a bird."

His skill of paperhanging was very useful for making wings. He made the ribs of bamboo, covered them with paper and fabric and varnished the surface with lacquer from Japanese persimmon. After discarding many prototypes, Ukita tried flying with the wings from a bridge over Asahigawa-river(旭川) in the summer of 1785. Some references say that he glided several metres, but others say that he just fell. His eccentricity astonished the citizens who who were out enjoying the cool evening air by the riverside. Immediately Ukita was arrested by Okayama Domain-certified-samurais, and Lord Ikeda Harumasa(池田治政) exiled Ukita from Okayama Domain (another opinion; Ukita was beheaded by Tokugawa shogunate). Kan-sa-zan(菅茶山), a contemporary scholar/poet, referred to this event in his writing.

Then he moved to Sunpu( _ja. 駿府), Suruga province(now Shizuoka, Shizuoka) and opened a shop of cotton under the name Bizen'ya Kōkichi. Once the business was established, he turned his shop over to his nephew and became a dental technician under the name Binkōsai. His excellent dentures established his reputation.

About his later years, there are two opinions. One opinion says that Ukita flew again at Sunpu and was executed for a crime of rioting. But another opinion says Ukita moved to Mitsuke( _ja. 見附), Tōtōmi Province(now Iwata, Shizuoka), quietly spent the rest of his life with wife and children, and died peacefully in 1847 at age 92.

His tomb is in the Daiken-ji Temple( _ja. 大見寺), Iwata, Sizuoka. His posthumous name(Buddhist name) is _ja. 釋帝玄居士 .

If it is true that Ukita Kōkichi flew with wings, his flight(1785) predated Sir George Cayley's glider flight(1849).

Incidentally, Lord Ikeda's descendant Ikeda Takamasa(池田隆政) cancelled the exile punishment in 1997.

ee also

*Abbas Ibn Firnas
*Eilmer of Malmesbury
*Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi
*Carl Friedrich Meerwein
*Albrecht Berblinger
*Chūhachi Ninomiya - 19th century Japanese aviation pioneer.

References

* _ja. 斎藤茂太『飛行機とともに - 羽ばたき機からSSTまで』中央公論社（中公新書301）、1972年、ISBN 4121003012
* _ja. 竹内正虎『日本航空發達史』相模書房、1940年

External links

*ja icon [http://www.city.okayama.okayama.jp/museum/koukichi/index.html]