Japan’s First manned private
Balloon Takes Flight,
and Umejiro Reaches Adulthood
Genzo’s balloon takes to the skies and makes him a household name
In December 1877, Genzo achieved a feat that instantly made his name known to the world. To the amazement and subsequent applause of 48,000 onlookers, a balloon that he had built with his own hands successfully took flight from the plaza of the Kyoto Sento Imperial Palace.
It all began with a request from the prefecture of Kyoto.
Masanao Makimura, governor of Kyoto Prefecture, was eager to promote technical education throughout the prefecture. He knew that to achieve high levels of expertise, technical education needed to begin as early as possible. The fact that he established 64 elementary schools in 1869, three years before the standardization of Japan’s school system, is proof of his commitment.
“I want to prove that a balloon can carry a passenger to boost awareness of science education in the prefecture. I want you to make that balloon.” Genzo received this request from Makimura in the early summer of 1877. The date of the event had already been fixed, and Genzo had just a few months to prepare.
Having only seen such balloons in foreign illustrations, and with hardly any proper materials, Genzo embarked on a process of trial and error. The biggest challenge was developing the material for the balloon, which would be filled with hydrogen. After many attempts, he found that the best material, in terms of airtightness and weight, was thin silk coated in dammar gum that had been dissolved in perilla oil. However, the balloon’s buoyancy was limited, so Genzo asked the smallest man from his client’s company to ride as passenger.
On December 6, the day of the launch, Genzo generated hydrogen gas by pouring dilute sulfuric acid onto iron shavings in sake barrels he had arranged in a circle. The gas traveled through iron pipes leading from the barrels to a larger barrel in the center, and from there into Genzo’s balloon. As the crowd watched, the balloon left the ground and rose to a height of about 36 meters. The success of this experiment created major publicity for Shimadzu’s technological capabilities.
