was a Japanese aircraft/automotive engineer. He graduated from
Tokyo Imperial University in 1936 and joined
Nakajima Aircraft Company in the same year.
Career
He improved
Nakajima Sakae engine for
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 19 ...
,
Nakajima Ki-43
The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II.
The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...
and other planes. He was the chief designer of
Nakajima Homare engine for
Nakajima Ki-84,
Nakajima C6N,
Kawanishi N1K and others.
[Zero inspired today's innovations - Warplane's engineers later excelled in auto, rocket sectors](_blank)
The Japan Times, Jan 14, 2004["From Aircraft To Automobile ―Memoirs of an Engine Designer―" by Ryoichi NAKAGAWA, The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) Feb. 5, 1982 (Japanese) ][MAEMA, Takanori (2007), "Homare, the Engine of Tragedy – the Anguish of a Genius Engine Designer, Ryoichi Nakagawa", Soshisha Publishing Co., Ltd., (Japanese) ]
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
Nakajima Aircraft Company was disbanded and was banned from producing aircraft by the
GHQ. It was divided into 12 companies. Two of them were
Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) and
Fuji Precision Industries (Prince Motors). Nakagawa was appointed the senior engineering manager of
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
and led its engineers.
[KATSURAGI, Yoji (2003), "The Beam of Light of Prince Motor Company", Grand Prix Book Publishing Co., Ltd., (Japanese) ] He supervised all the Prince vehicles projects including
Skyline
A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land.
City skylines ...
,
Gloria
Gloria may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music
* Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise
* Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise
** Gloria (Handel)
** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
,
R380,
S390P-1 Royal limousine and others.
He received a
Doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
of Engineering from his old school
Tokyo University in 1961.
After the merger of Prince and
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
in August 1966, he was promoted to the senior executive director of Nissan in 1969.
Later he became the chairman of the
Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. (JSAE). He was elected to the
National Academy of Engineering in 1990.
[NAE Member Dr. Ryoichi Nakagawa](_blank)
NAE Website
He died on July 30, 1998.
[UEDA, Masaaki, HIRAYAMA, Ikuo, NISHIZAWA, Junichi and MIURA, Shumon "Japanese Biographical Dictionary" Kodansha Ltd., Dec. 6, 2001, (Japanese) ]
See also
*
Nakajima Aircraft Company
*
Nakajima Sakae
*
Nakajima Homare
*
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 19 ...
*
Nakajima Ki-43
The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II.
The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...
*
Nakajima Ki-84
*
Nakajima C6N
*
Kawanishi N1K
*
Prince Motor Company
*
Prince G engine
The Prince G-series engine was the company's only straight-four and straight-six engines which began production in 1955. A number of variations were made, with both OHV and OHC heads. A diesel four-cylinder with was also built, called the D-6 ...
*
Prince Skyline
A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land.
City skylines ...
*
Prince Gloria
Gloria may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music
* Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise
* Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise
** Gloria (Handel)
** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
*
Prince R380
The Prince R380 is a racing car built in 1965 by Prince Motor Company to compete in the Japanese Grand Prix. Following the merger of Prince Motor Company and Nissan Motors in 1966, the R380 was modified into the Nissan R380-II (also known as R380 ...
*
Prince Royal
*
Jiro Tanaka
is a Japanese aircraft and automotive engineer.
Career
Tanaka graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in March 1939 and joined the Tachikawa Aircraft Company in April 1939. In October of the same year, he enlisted in the Army and evalu ...
*
Shinichiro Sakurai
*
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
*
Nissan S20 engine
*
Nissan R382
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakagawa, Ryoichi
1913 births
1998 deaths
Japanese automotive pioneers
Japanese aerospace engineers
Japanese automotive engineers
Japanese founders of automobile manufacturers
Nissan people
Businesspeople from Tokyo
University of Tokyo alumni
Japanese business executives
Corporate executives in the automobile industry