Just fantastic Panagiotis!!! I always learn something looking at your work.
Many apologies for not posting this info sooner, although actually I did write everything out twice already, only to have it all disappear suddenly when I wanted to post... bloody annoying!!!
(This time I took Ivett's advice and wrote it on a word document first...) Hope you find it as interesting as I did!
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My friend Hirohiko was here last month, and during the course of a great day I was able to ask him a little about his Uncle (not Grandfather as I'd remembered).
His name was Yasuo Fukuda, and he was a young man when appointed the task of leading the C6N1 design team with colleague Yoshizo Yamamoto.
Hirohiko mentioned this was his first big project for Nakajima, though according to the net he was also co-chief designer of the earlier B4N1 design.
As Hirohiko emphasized, he was part of the design TEAM, and worked on all aspects of the aircraft's design with his colleagues.
Hirohiko hadn't heard of the pact Shinpachi mentioned. His uncle loved designing, and spoke freely of his work, the Sai-un being his proudest achievement.
He enjoyed a close personal friendship with Chikuhei Nakajima himself, company co-founder and owner, and was very sorry when Nakajima ceased to produce aircraft at war's end.
(Something else I learnt from him – Nakajima did continue to design and produce after the war, if not in name: the company divided into 2 major parts, becoming SUBARU and FUJI respectively; and the section that made the instrument panels became watch makers CITIZEN!)
Yasuo himself continued with his designs after the war, becoming involved in efficient oil-pump systems for Diesel locomotive engines if I remember correctly, until his untimely death in 1963 to cancer.
Yasuo's father (Hirohiko's grandfather) was Ichiro Fukuda, a former Rear Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
He had served in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05, but was later retired when the IJN reduced it's fleet.
He continued his interest in naval matters, and played a large role in Japanese submarine development, our own Shinpachi mentioning he is famous in Japan for his many books on the subject.
He also later became an accomplished Chinese Character painter, and lived to the amazing age of 103 years (!), with full mental faculties intact.
When I asked Hirohiko his grandfather's secret to longevity, his answer was this:
'Two things. The first - he was deaf in one ear, not hearing all the negative things in the world. The second, being retired early. He had time to do the things he loved.'
Full respect to both men, and also to the rest of Hirohiko's family, involved as they are in the betterment of mankind in various ways (predominently medicinal research and helping the mentally ill).