With the cessation of hostilities and the ability to assess wartime experience, it was obvious to Japanese military leaders that their respective air arms were far short of world standards both in training and equipment. The Army was the first to initiate a modernization programme with the purchase of war surplus Nieuport and SPAD fighter aircraft in April 1918. These were used only for training, the pilots spending their time in purposeless flying since they lacked the knowledge of how to use their aircraft as a military force.

To solve the problem, the Army invited French military instructors of the I’Armee de I’Air to japan in January 1919 to train Japanese Army pilots. As a goodwill gesture under the leadership of Col jean Paul Faure, a team of sixty-three French instructors took with them more modern aircraft, such as a number of Breguets, Salmsons, Nieuports, Caudrons and SPAD XIIIs. Instruction was given in aerial combat, gunnery, reconnaissance and bombing. The results of this training exceeded expectations. As a result of this French mission there came not only a new system of training pilots for Army aviation, but the drawing up of a plan for modernization of its equipment, and the provision of definite standards for military aircraft. After nine months of intensive training, the French instructors left for home in September 1919.

The Japanese Navy took note of the transformation achieved in the Army by foreign instructors and the introduction to new equipment. Taking into account the Japanese opinion that French Army aviation was better geared to fighting over land masses, and that British military aviation was more adept at operations over water, the Japanese Navy requested the help of a British military group to provide Navy instruction. Arriving in April 1921, a group of twenty-nine instructors, with Col the Master of Sempill, in charge, they began their training programme at Kasumigaura, the Navy’s first air base for both landplane and seaplane operations, located 35 miles northeast of Tokyo.

The British instructors trained Japanese Naval pilots in torpedo bombing, aerial photography, air tactics and other related operations. Of great importance, they taught the necessity of land-based operations to support naval operations as well as to operate independently of fleet activities. From the beginning the Navy had been equipped only with seaplanes, but, as more was learned about European aviation, it began to appreciate the value of Naval land-based aircraft. The British group introduced a number of new types of aircraft into Japanese service including the Avro 504K trainer, Short reconnaissance seaplane, Gloster Sparrowhawk fighter, Parnall Panther reconnaissance biplane, Sopwith Cuckoo and Blackburn Swift torpedo aircraft, and Supermarine Channel and F.5 flying-boats. Some of these were later produced in japan and remained in service for a number of years.

This influence brought to Japan by the French and British air missions was to affect Japanese military aviation and its aircraft design in many ways and for many years to come. This led to the need for aircraft to be manufactured in japan and continuing development of new designs, and as a result brought about the formation of Japanese manufacturing companies. As these companies were formed, many military engineers left the service at an early age to join them and this military influence was very apparent. The companies which flourished were those which met the needs of the military agency that supported them. Civilian endeavour was restricted by military influence and a limited market. Numerous companies were formed to manufacture aircraft.