During the Taishō era, Japanese manufacturers began offering airships and airship kits.
Toyodo & Co
Aviation game, circa 1912: a biplane, an airship, and a monoplane are in pursuit of one another.
Lithographed sheet metal, clockwork mechanism; the canopy rotates and drives the aircraft, 18 x 25 cm
Its beautifully illustrated box, featuring the toy’s designs.
Nobori, late 1910s: this toy, powered by its propeller, can spin—either attached to a rotating arm or suspended from a string.
Lithographed sheet metal, clock mechanism, h: 31 cm, 57 x 57 cm
Manufacturer unknown
Set of airships, cires 1915, the rotating base drives the airships.
Lithographed sheet metal, clockwork mechanism, h: 24 x 8 x 17 cm
Kohno Kakuzo
The R-100 G-FAAV, designed to provide a link between Great Britain and its Empire, 1933.
The rear propeller propels the toy along a string.
Lithographed sheet metal, clockwork mechanism, 7 x 29 cm
As is the case everywhere on the planet, heavier-than-air vehicles prevail over lighter-than-air ones; airships and balloons are being supplanted