Satoshi Dobara, 61, a Japanese painter living in Florence, is seeking information about children's drawings and calligraphy presented by Empress Teimei, the wife of Emperor Taisho, to the Italian queen 100 years ago.
The 166 works were created by elementary school students in Japan in commemoration of the first flight between Rome and Tokyo in 1920. Dobara said the descendants of only seven of the children have been confirmed.
Out of 11 attempts at the time to make the world's first flight between Europe and the Far East, only the plane piloted by Italian Army Lt. Arturo Ferrarin and engineer Gino Cappannini succeeded.
Their journey is said to have taken three months, passing through about 30 locations and covering a total of 18,000 kilometers.
On May 31, 1920, Ferrarin and Cappannini landed at a parade ground in Tokyo's Yoyogi district and were reportedly greeted by Japanese military and diplomatic officials. They stayed in the country for about 60 days.
Having become interested in the Rome-Tokyo flight, Dobara read Ferrarin's autobiography.
The book says that Ferrarin met Empress Teimei during his stay in Japan, and was asked to give albums containing drawings by elementary school students to the Italian queen.
"I will collect the best works at each school and compile them in two albums," the Empress was quoted as saying. According to the autobiography, the Italian queen eventually gave the albums to Ferrarin's mother as a memento of her son's great achievement.
Searching for the whereabouts of the albums, Dobara in 2017 found that Ferrarin's second son, Roberto, had one of the two albums. The other was found in 2019 being housed at the Museo storico dell'Aeronautica Militare, or the Italian Air Force history museum. It had been donated to the air force by Ferrarin's brother.
The two albums bear the word "kinencho" (commemorative book) on the cover, and contain 166 drawings and pieces of calligraphy. Since they include many works by those who became celebrities in later years, Dobara contacted people believed to be their descendants.
Among the pieces of calligraphy was one made by Sentaro Nakakura, the father of film director Shigeo Nakakura, 79. Sentaro wrote "hotei banri," meaning a very long way, in beautiful kanji that was exceptional for a 12-year-old.
According to Shigeo Nakakura, Sentaro was good at calligraphy. "I remember I had him do my calligraphy homework when I was in elementary school," he said. The Nakakuras were on the Korean Peninsula at the end of World War II and returned to Japan with only the barest necessities. Since there was nothing left in terms of Sentaro's childhood, Shigeo said he is very pleased to such a treasure was found.
The albums also contained drawings by painter Isson Tanaka (1908-77), who is known as the Gauguin of Japan, and architect Junzo Yoshimura (1908-97).
Dobara hopes to exhibit these works in Japan in the future. "I want children of today to see the works of children 100 years ago, which had been forgotten after they left for Italy," he said.
The names, school names and ages of the children who contributed the works are listed on the commemorative albums' website (https://kinencho1920.com/) along with photos of the drawings and calligraphy. Inquiries and information can be provided through the website.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
