was a Japanese aircraft/automotive engineer. He graduated from

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

in 1936 and joined

Nakajima Aircraft Company The was a prominent Japanese aircraft manufacturer and aviation engine manufacturer throughout World War II. It continues as the car and aircraft manufacturer Subaru Corporation, Subaru. History The Nakajima Aircraft company was Japan's first ...

in the same year.

Career

He improved

Nakajima Sakae The was a two-row, 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine used in a number of combat aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. Design and development The engine was designed by Nakajima A ...

engine for

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1940 to 1945. The ...

Nakajima Ki-43 The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon"), formal Japanese designation is a single-engine land-based tactical Fighter aircraft, fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II. The Allied World War II Allie ...

and other planes. He was the chief designer of

Nakajima Homare The Nakajima Homare (誉, "praise" or, more usually, "honour") was an air-cooled twin-row 18 cylinder radial Japanese aircraft engine manufactured during World War II. Producing almost 2,000 horsepower, it was used widely by both the Imperial ...

engine for

Nakajima Ki-84 The is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was . The Ki-84 is generally considered the best Japanes ...

, Nakajima C6N,

Kawanishi N1K The Kawanishi N1K is an Imperial Japanese Navy fighter aircraft which was developed in two forms: the N1K ''Kyōfū'' (, "Strong Wind", Allied reporting name Rex), a floatplane designed to support forward offensive operations where no airstrips ...

and others. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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).

Prince Motor Company The Prince Motor Company (Japanese language, Japanese: ) was an automobile manufacturer, automobile marque from Japan which eventually merged into Nissan in 1966. It began as the Tachikawa Aircraft Company, a manufacturer of various airplanes fo ...

operated out of the old Nakajima premises in

Ogikubo, Tokyo is a suburban, residential area of Tokyo in Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Suginami ward, approximately 8 km west of Shinjuku. Ogikubo has the Ogikubo Station on the East Japan Railway Company, JR Chūō Line (Rapid), the JR Chūō-Sōbu Line, the Toky ...

and Nakagawa was appointed the senior engineering manager, leading 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 wikt:outline, outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural area, rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the ...

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. Nakagawa was the motivating force behind Prince's early use of Italian design houses, and went on to use the knowledge gained to promote and guide Japanese designers like his protégé

Shinichiro Sakurai was a Japanese engineer inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of FameTh ...

. Ikari (1993), p. 29 He received a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

of Engineering from his old school

Tokyo University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

in 1961. After the merger of Prince and

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

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 A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

, Inc. (JSAE). He was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

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