February 5, 1947
Carrier Ittanmomen was launched today at Yokosuka Navy Yard.
February 9, 1947
Yesterday the new E-4 locomotive was taken into service on the high-speed Aomori-Kagoshima line. The locomotive is a slightly larger but more powerful version of the older E-2 locomotive currently used for the Nippon Express. During tests in the last months, the E-4 reached speeds of around 250 kilometers per hour, although the speed it will operate at will be somewhat lower at around 200 kilometers per hour.
Another introduction during the first journey of the E-4 locomotive was the inclusion of two observation wagons, one 1st class and one 2nd class, with a streamlined dome on top from which travellers can look around at the landscape during the train's journey. The two domed wagons were expecially poular on the Edo-Nagoya section of track where the train passes Mount Fuji.
The train left Aomori at exacly 6:24 and arrived slightly ahead of time at Kagoshima at 19:53:39 which comes at an average speed for the whole journey of about 163 kilometers per hour. (*)
(Picture of the E-4 and its passenger wagons, similar to the picture I made of the E-2 4 years ago)
February 12, 1947
Pacifica's Minister of Finance, Manuia Chatsaga, met with his Belgian counterpart, Paul Guillaume van Zeeland, today. The two men agreed to and signed a trade deal that will see a bilateral exchange of Belgian coal for Pacifican agricultural and fisheries produce.
February 15, 1947
While the whole of Northern Europe has ground to a halt due to the harsh winter which has seen lots of snow and very low temperatures, our winter here seems to be just a fairly normal one. Weather and temperatures yesterday (**):
Sapporo - highest -4.7 degrees C, lowest -11.1 degrees C. Sunny periods.
Edo - highest 2.0 degrees C, lowest -0.8 degrees C. Wintry showers. Precipitation up to 17mm.
Kyoto - highest 2.2 degrees C, lowest -1.6 degrees C. Wintry showers. Precipitation up to 23mm.
Kagoshima - highest 13.4 degrees C, lowest 5.7 degrees C. Showers. Precipitation up to 31mm.
Naze - highest 20.7 degrees C, lowest 12.6 degrees C. Light rain. Precipitation up to 10mm.
February 25, 1947
A major railway accident took place on the Hachikō Line between Komagawa and Higashi-Hannō stations. A Japanese Government Railways passenger train derailed causing a number of cars to roll over into a field.
February 28, 1947
Nakajima revealed the plans for its new carrier plane today. It is fairly similar to the experimental MXN8, though the new plane will only have a single engine which is more powerful than the two used for the MXN8. It is expected that the plane will make its first flight within the next few months and become operational in 1948.
(***)
(*) Probably not entirely correct but I kept it simple and added up the times of the various sections of the Shinkansen line as well as the distance along the Shinkansen lines from Aomori to Kagoshima and then converted it from the maximum speeds on those sections to the maximum speed of the E-4.
(**) Stupid me forgot to bookmark the site where I got the weather data from.
(***) Supermarine Attacker used for the A9N jet with Hood's permission.