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
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
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)

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

Career

See also

References