The author, who goes by the pen-name "Kaz" of the dojinshi circle “Reppu-Kai”, is writing books about technical and operational details of IJN aircraft carriers.
His books
are small (some 30 pages each) and have no photos.
It’s the text
of those books that made me to overcome all the hassles of buying books in Japan
and shipping them to Ukraine, as well as translating them.
Author research is about very narrow topics, but he studies them in great depths, using many original period sources.
Add to this small, but clear drawings by the author, and you’ll
get invaluable books for the IJN carriers’ researcher.
More about
each book.
“Carrier
Force Reconstruction Plan” (空母部隊再建計画).
After the
defeat at Midway in June 1942 IJN tried really hard to regain its carrier
superiority. You can find information about carrier-building programs in
English-language sources. But this books studies something lightly described even
in Japanese – ideas how to make and use IJN Carrier Task Forces from Midway till
the end of the war.
“Aircraft
Carrier Aircraft Capacity Situation. Enlarged and Revised Edition” (空母飛行機搭載状況 増補改訂版).
IJN carriers
aircraft-carrying capacity, air groups’ compositions from 1930s till 1945,
capacity of flying decks of the ships to launch and recover aircraft.
“Japanese
Navy aircraft carrier catapults” (日本海軍の空母用射出機).
Description
of various attempts to install catapults aboard IJN aircraft carriers. IJN did
worked on various designs of catapults for their aircraft carriers, yet the
only catapults that saw operational service, were ones installed on battleship-carriers
of “Ise” class.
One of the
drawings from the later book: design of carrier catapult from c.1940-41.
