On the forum we have previously discussed the fate of the replica Kates, Vals and Zeroes made in California for the movie.

But what happened to the similar replicas made in Japan for the Japanese sections of the movie? From reading an old “Flypast” I understand some replicas were constructed by the Kawasaki aircraft company for the Japanese scenes although some unmodified AT-6s were also used. Do any of the Japanese – made “Tora” replicas still survive?

Colin,

Hi, I hope this info can help answer your question. There were 21 T-6G
Texans converted from Japanese (JASDF, JMSDF) serving aircraft at the
time of filming. There were three flyable Zeroes converted and five Kates
with US reg.: N6520, N6522, N6524, N6526, N6529. These are the Kates
we see in the opening credits and in the practice runs past the Geisha Girls
some way into the film. The kits were supplied to Kawasaki by Cal-Volair
in the US.

The other 13 T-6G Texans were standard Harvards used in background
scenes with very little conversion work, some had folding wing tips
though. Their fate is unknown.

12 Zeroes were completed in the US, these are the ones seen on the
Warbird scene today. 9 Kates were completed and 10 Vals (not 9 as
often reported, the mystery one being N18102 marked as ‘AI-245’ –
FAA records for this one are missing!).