The Japanese conglomerate Hitachi manufactured aircraft engines from about 1929 until the end of World War II, with a concentration on low-power seven and nine cylinder radials and inverted inline fours. The Hitachi Aircraft Company was formed in 1939 to take over the aircraft and aero-engine branches of the Tokyo Gasu Denki K.K. or Tokyo Gas & Electric Co., Ltd. Many, if not most, Japanese military trainers were powered by Hitachi copies of German designed Hirth air-cooled inline engines.
The Hitachi Hatsukaze powered the Kyushu K9W1 (Allied Code Name Cypress) Navy Type 2 Primary Trainer Model 11, and the similar Army version Kokusai Ki-86, Type 4 Primary Trainer aircraft. The engine was a derivative, licensed copy of the Hirth HM-504A, which powered the Bucker Bu 131 Jungmann aircraft. There were 541 Hatsukaze engines built during World War II between 1941 and 1943.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.