11/15/2020. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "Originally flown in 1936, this aircraft, fitted with a the 750 hp Nakajima Ha-8 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial, was the second Mitsubishi Ki-15 prototype of a reconnaissance aircraft that went into production as the Army Type 97 Command Reconnaissance Plane Model 1 (Ki-15-1), the first production aircraft being delivered in May 1937.

While the first Ki-15 prototype was undergoing flight trials, the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's leading newspapers, had obtained authorization from the Army to purchase from Mitsubishi the second prototype for use in an attempt to make a record flight between Japan and England on the occasion of the Coronation of HM King George VI. Built under the civil designation of Karigane I (Wild Goose I) Communication Plane, the aircraft was completed on 19 March, 1937, and, registered J-BAAI and named Kamikaze (Divine Wind), the aircraft was delivered to Asahi Shimbun on March 25and received the fleet number Asahi 118.

The aircraft was identical to the military prototype except that all military equipment including cameras and armament was removed. The outstanding performance of this aircraft was revealed to the Western World when, between April 6 and 9, 1937, Masaaki Iinuma, pilot, and Kenji Tsukagoshi, flight mechanic and navigator, flew J-BAAI from Tachikawa, near Tokyo, to London covering 9,542 mls (15,356 km) in 94 hr 17 min 56 sec, the actual flying time being 51 hr 17 min 23 sec and the average speed 101.2 mph (162.86 kmh). After visiting Brussels, Berlin, Paris and Rome, the aircraft returned to Tokyo on May 21, 1937. It continued in service to its owners.

In October 1939, while returning from a trip to China, it encountered bad weather and crash landed on Taiwan. The airplane was recovered, then placed on display at the Asahi Shimbun headquarters in Tokyo. During a bombing raid in 1944, the building was hit and the airplane was destroyed."