Wonderful Vintage Japanese ‘Kamikaze’ New Year’s Cards From 1937

This high-spirited set of vintage New Year’s cards celebrates the historic flight of the Kamikaze, a Mitsubishi Ki-15 aircraft that became the first Japanese-built plane to fly from Japan to Europe.

Sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and piloted by Masaaki Iinuma (who came to be known as “the Japanese Lindbergh”) with Kenji Tsukagoshi, the Kamikaze made its momentous 51-hour flight from Tokyo to London in April 1937. The New Year’s cards were printed later that year by Tanaka & Co.