Air Girl (エアガール)

AIR

AIR

AIR

AIR

AIR

AIR

AIR

AIR

GIRL

GIRL

GIRL

GIRL

GIRL

GIRL

GIRL

GIRL

ECOTV Presents

Showa 3

In 1928,

Komari-san was born in downtown Tokyo.

Komari

Her father made airplane parts at a factory in town,

and she grew up using model airplanes as pacifiers.

Her mother read to her the biography of the great Wright brothers...

Ready?

Go!

At the age of five, she won the town's paper airplane race.

First Japanese Woman to Fly Overseas

The open sky is waiting for the maiden

Shiraikiku No. 1 has landed safely.

After overcoming many hardships,

Matsumoto Kikuko-san became the first Japanese female pilot

to successfully fly overseas.

You're a female pilot!

There are people who have become that.

I want to be one too.

Her longing for the sky grew stronger and stronger...

As soon as she entered high school,

she declared she was going to be a pilot.

Well, I'll be going now.

Her brother, who joined the Imperial Navy and became an aviator,

was killed in a kamikaze suicide mission.

The Great Tokyo Air Raid

- AH!!! - RUN!

Her parents, who loved aircrafts,

were killed in the Great Tokyo Air raid by the U.S. armed forces planes.

Summer

Sano Komari

Komari-san, who was left alone in the world,

ryotei - luxurious traditional restaurant

was taken in by her aunt who ran a ryotei.

Ryotei Shinbashi

Oh, oh, oh... Hey, are you okay?

Komari's Aunt

Sano Chiyo

Don't just rest there. Come on, let's get this cleaned up.

Yes.

Under the guidance of her aunt, who lost her family in the war,

she worked from morning to night.

By enduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable...

And then the war ended with the U.S. military aircraft dropping the atomic bomb...

Japan, a defeated country, lost its skies to GHQ.

Tokyo Airfield became the Haneda Army Air Base,

and under the GHQ aviation ban,

Japanese were prohibited from all aviation-related activities, including piloting, operations, design, manufacturing, and research,

and all Japanese-owned aircraft were destroyed.

Komari-san managed to get herself accepted to a high school for girls,

but even after the war, she was a caged bird, working all day and not being able to go anywhere.

I've decided, Komari!

Eh?

Let's also handle Western food for GHQ.

Because they're the ones with the most money.

Wow... it looks good, doesn't it?

But if the occupiers do come, will we be able to respond in English...?

Well, that would be great, wouldn't it?

Auntie, can you speak English?

No, I can't. You do it.

Eh?

Because in this restaurant, the only one who goes to a girls' high school is you, Komari.

Ah... that's true...

Huh? That's wrong.

Welcome to the Japanese Restaurant, Shinbashi...

Welcome to the Japanese Restaurant, Shinbashi.

Welcome to the Japanese Restaurant, Shinbashi.

This is zenzai.

zenzai - red bean soup made with azuki beans​

A Japanese sweet dessert.

Thanks to her efforts, the restaurant began to attract

high-ranking officials from GHQ and important figures from the political and business world...

Delicious.

Thank you very much.

Komari-san has also been entrusted with running the restaurant.

The sky of Japan belongs to the Japanese people.

Matsuki Shizuo

Minister Miki, if we don't start aviation business by ourselves,

Japan's sky will be occupied by foreign countries forever.

I also agree with you, Matsuki-san.

Takeo Miki

That's why today

JCCI - Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry

we have President Fujiwara of the JCCI.

Fujiwara Ichiro

Well, if it's an aviation project, it's going to be hard to raise money,

but we'll see how we can get the Prime Minister on board.

Domestic Aviation

Shirasu plots to establish

JDAC for domestic flights

Domestic Aviation

Anyway, his aide, Shirasu Jiro, is a hypocrite.

I heard that seven foreign airlines are planning to establish an organization

Mr. Shirasu plots to establish

Mr. Shirasu plots to establish

JDAC for domestic flights

JDAC for domestic flights

called JDAC to run the airline business in Japan.

Are we selling Japan's skies... to foreign countries?

Shirasu-kun has ties to foreign capital.

I've learned a lot about how to get along with Western countries.

If things go according to Shirasu-san's plan,

what will happen to Japan's aviation industry...?

I will also ask

Keidanren - Federation of Economic Organizations

the Chairman of the Keidanren and the Minister of Transport for their help...

- What are you doing? - Ah...

Why were you eavesdropping?

I'm sorry.

I heard they were talking about planes, I unintentionally...

I love them.

Ever since I was a kid, I've always dreamed of becoming a pilot, and I really wanted to be one.

Who are you, anyway?

Ah... I'm the waitress here.

Mishima Yuuki

If so, then please know your place.

I would like you to stay away from that room.

I am truly sorry.

June

Korean War - 1950 - 1953

In order to respond to the increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula,

Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru upgraded the Ministry of Communications and Transportation Aviation to the Aviation Security Agency,

Mr. Matsuki as the first director general

Ministry of Telecommunications

establishes the Aviation Security Agency

and appointed Mr. Matsuki Shizuo as the first Director General.

Mr. Matsuki Shizuo, who designed Itami Airport,

has been devoted to airplanes since before WWII

and he is the most devoted person in Japan for its sky

and he expressed his desire to take back the sky of Japan.

Matsuki-san's presence

also brought a ray of hope to Komari-san's heart.

JDAC gets permission to establish 12 round trips per week

Domestic Aviation

Autumn

JDAC, a joint venture of seven foreign airlines,

has been officially established

and is set to begin operating domestic flights.

Excuse me.

Vice President Yanagisawa of the Bank of Japan is here.

That's my former job title.

I'm currently banned from holding public office.

I'm very sorry for the inconvenience today.

You're probably upset about the JDAC thing, aren't you?

If this continues, Japan's skies will be completely taken over.

Yanagisawa Seiji

But the other side is also made up of seven foreign companies.

I heard that Shirasu-kun was having a hard time adjusting their interests.

Now is the time to take advantage.

So, you will help us, right?

I'll follow your orders, Matsuki-kun.

Let's build up momentum for the establishment

of an airline by the Japanese by going around to all the newspapers.

Mishima here. Can I have the check, please?

Yes. Thank you very much.

Ah...

I apologize about that time.

Don't worry, I'm the one who was too harsh.

No... Here, thank you.

Yes.

Well, I'll be going now.

Big brother, here.

You will be completely safe with that.

Thank you, Komari.

Is something wrong?

Ah... I'm sorry.

That amulet,

did someone give it to you?

Yes. It was given to me by a colleague of mine from my days in the Navy.

Do you remember his name?

It was Sano Daichi.

Did you know my brother?

Are you related to Sano Daichi-kun?

I'm his sister, Sano Komari.

I'm Mishima Yuuki.

I was in the same unit as your brother.

Was that so?

As soon as I returned from the war, I visited his parents' house in Kamata.

I heard that

his house was burnt down and his family died,

but I didn't know that his sister is still alive...

Were you close to my brother?

Yes, he was a wonderful young man.