03/15/2020. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "In 1935, the Japanese Ministry of Railways had a requirement for two survey aircraft and ordered one each from Mitsubishi and Nakajima.

Mitsubishi modified the design of the 2MR8 (Army Type 92 Reconnaissance Aircraft) and the result was named Hato (Pigeon). This too was a strut-braced parasol monoplane of metal structure throughout, with fabric covering and metal-covered forward fuselage. The pilot was still seated in an open cockpit, but the rear cockpit had large fore and aft windshields which supported a canopy when desired, forming an enclosed cockpit for one or two additional crew. Power plant was a 400 hp Mitsubishi AS nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, driving a Reed-type fixed-pitch two-bladed metal propeller.

Finished in May 1936, the Hato was given the civil registration J-AARA and assigned to the Bureau of Railway Construction. The letter 'A' after the J- in the registration indicated it was registered to a government department. In Japanese characters the aircraft bore the title 'Tetsudosho 1 go' (Ministry of Railways No. 1) on its fuselage as well as on the rudder. The 'I'-like symbol on the fin, and repeated on the ends of the wings, is in fact the section of a rail and the logo of the Ministry of Railways. The aircraft was used to monitor new railway construction and for geographical survey for future railway tracks. In times of emergency, it was used to survey damage caused by storms and flooding as well as railway accidents."