1929

On August 19, 1929, Tokyoites’ gazes were turned skyward to watch the arrival of the LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin, the 237-meter-long dirigible that brought the golden age of airship travel—albeit briefly— to Japan. Fresh from a trailblazing nonstop flight from its base in Friedrichshafen, Germany, the lighter-than-air vessel was poised for one of the first aerial crossings of the Pacific. With the aid of a 500-man Japanese landing party, it was brought safely to land at a naval airbase in Kasumigaura, to the northeast of Tokyo. The passengers and crew were treated to tea by Emperor Hirohito, and feted and dined for four days before floating off for the shores of California, the third leg of a record-breaking round-the-world flight that had captured the world’s imagination. The 21-day voyage was a triumph, and the Graf Zeppelin went on to become the most successful dirigible in aviation history, logging over 1.5 million kilometers and carrying more than 13,000 passengers without incident; private staterooms, fine dining, and a luxurious salon ensured that its well-heeled clientele traveled in style. Sadly, the era of the commercial airship ended in 1937 when the Graf’s sister ship, the Hindenburg, burst into flames while attempting to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Retired one month after the disaster, the Graf Zeppelin served briefly as a museum in Frankfurt until it was scrapped for fighter plane parts in 1940.