View: https://youtu.be/8PCM1zgVHTg?si=BQIyqZbI9jymyIqN
This footage is from a promotional movie
made by Kawasaki Aircraft Industries and was filmed sometime from late 1943
It shows a brand new Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien Army Type 3 fighters (codenamed "Tony" by the allies) being rolled out from the hangar of the Kawasaki plant in Gifu to be delivered to the Imperial Army and then to be sent off to the southern pacific (most likely New Guinea).
The first Ki-61 to appear in the footage is a Ki-61-I Hei variant (s/n 3159) this specific variant was armed with German imported (Waffenfabrik) Mauser MG151/20 cannons (Note the long barrels) in the leading edges of the wing. (These cannons arrived via an Italian submarine which arrived to Japan in 1943 with some 800 cannons of this type along with ammunition and parts)
The 2 Hiens taking off at 0:57 are Ki-61-I-Otsu variant (which did not have the German cannons) they are taking off from Kakamigahara airfield (which was part of the Gifu plant, and still exists today and is a JASDF airbase) for a test flight. All the planes are in bare "metal/aluminium" finish without any camouflage. The rest of footage shows the planes flying over the Gifu plant with the workers of the plant that could or were allowed to gathered at the outside yard; cheering for the planes flying over them. You can even spot the workers at 1:11 working on other Kawasaki aircraft such as the Kawasaki Ki-48 Army Type 99 Twin-engined Light Bomber (codenamed "Lily" by the allies)
