(born January 13, 1957) is a Japanese military aviation photographer, specializing in air-to-air photography. He works for a large number of aircraft manufacturers including Dassault,

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and provides aeronautical services. It was founded in 1969 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, where i ...

Korean Aerospace Industries Korea Aerospace Industries (Korean: 한국항공우주산업, Hanja: 韓國航空宇宙産業) (KAI) is a South Korean aerospace and defense company. It was originally established as a joint venture of Samsung Aerospace, Daewoo Heavy Industries' ...

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

Mikoyan Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (russian: Российская самолётостроительная корпорация „МиГ“, Rossiyskaya samolyotostroitel'naya korporatsiya "MiG"), commonly known as Mikoyan and MiG, was a Russi ...

Pilatus Aircraft Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. is an aerospace manufacturer located in Stans, Switzerland. In June 2016, the company employed 1,905 people. The company has mostly produced aircraft for niche markets, in particular short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraf ...

, Saab and Sukhoi. Tokunaga started his career in the backseat of a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

T-33A Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, Lockheed P-80/F-80 ...

in 1978. To date he has flown between 50 and 60 fast jets in some 50 countries, logging 1400 flight hours. He has also flown with and photographed many aerobatic teams from around the world, including that of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(the

Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams ...

), the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (

Blue Impulse (currently 11 Squadron 4th Air Wing, previously 21 Squadron 4th Air Wing) is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The team was founded in 1960 as a team of six F-86 Sabres. They changed mounts to the Mi ...

),the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

(the Snowbirds), the

Breitling Jet Team ] The Breitling Jet Team is the largest civilian aerobatic display team in Europe. Based in Dijon, France, it flies seven Aero L-39 Albatros jets. The team flies a display lasting 18–20 minutes that includes formation flying, opposition passes, ...

Croatian Air Force and Air Defence The Croatian Air Force ( hr, Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo or HRZ) is a branch of the Croatian Armed Forces whose primary task is to ensure the sovereignty of the airspace of the Republic of Croatia and to provide aviation support to other branc ...

Wings of Storm The Wings of Storm ( hr, Krila Oluje) is the Croatian Air Force (Republic of Croatia), Croatian Air Force aerobatic display team. Its task is the presentation of the skill, discipline, and teamwork of the Croatian Air Force. The team 'Krila Oluje ...

, the Chilean Air Force's Halcones, the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

's Patrouille de France, the

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

's Frecce Tricolori, the

Portuguese Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 1 July , equipment = , equipment_label ...

Asas de Portugal The () was a flight demonstration team created in 1977 integrated with ''Esquadra'' 103 (103 Squadron) of the Portuguese Air Force. It was Portugal's national aerobatic flying team and flew two ex-German Air Force Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha ...

, the Slovak Air Force's Biele Albatrosy, the

Spanish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

's Patrulla Aguila, the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

Team 60 Team 60 is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Swedish Air Force. The team, at the time still unnamed, was formed in 1974 as a group of 4 SK 60 (Swedish Air Force designation for the SAAB 105) from the Air Force Central Flying School at ...

, the

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army and ...

Patrouille Suisse The Patrouille Suisse is an aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force. The team flies six Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter/bomber jets. History The Patrouille Suisse was founded on August 22, 1964 with four Hawker Hunters. Two displays were also fl ...

and

PC-7 Team The PC-7 Team is an aerobatics team of the Swiss Air Force. It derives its name from the Pilatus PC-7 trainer, the team's primary aircraft. History Soon after the PC-7 was introduced in 1982, the Swiss Air Force started to present the new a ...

, as well as the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

's Thunderbirds and the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

's Blue Angels, the

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mil ...

's White-Red Sparks and the Yugoslav Air Force's Leteće zvezde.F-104 air-to-air pictures by Katsuhiko Tokunaga May 11, 2009
''The Aviationist'' Retrieved December 10, 2016 He also published many books including 'Smoke Trails: The last of the F-4 Phantoms' (in cooperation with Jamie Hunter), 'Super Blue' and 'Top Teams'.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tokunaga, Katsuhiko Living people Japanese photographers 1957 births