Fuji Heavy Industries

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · Japan

Fuji Heavy Industries

Fuji Jūkōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha · FHI · Subaru Corporation (since 2017)

Rebuilt from the wreckage of Nakajima, the maker of the wartime Hayabusa, Fuji gave post-war Japan its first jet, the T-1 trainer, then became far better known for Subaru cars.

1953Founded
Merged into Subaru in 2017Status
7Aircraft on record
2Air forces flying its types
Photo: 航空自衛隊 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
CountryJapanFounded1953HeadquartersTokyoStatusMerged into Subaru in 2017
The story

Fuji Heavy Industries: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Out of Nakajima

Nakajima had been one of Japan’s great wartime aircraft makers, builder of the Ki-43 and Ki-84 fighters. The Allied occupation broke it up, and on 15 July 1953 five of the fragments, from Fuji Kogyo to Utsunomiya Sharyo, joined to form Fuji Heavy Industries. Aircraft manufacture had been legal again in Japan only since April 1952, and Fuji’s first product was a licence-built American trainer: 176 Beech T-34 Mentors.

Japan’s first jet

Fuji used the Mentor as a springboard. It stretched it into the four-seat LM-1 Nikko liaison aircraft and then the KM-2 and T-3 trainers. Its own T-1 Hatsutaka, first flown in January 1958, was Japan’s first jet trainer, first mass-produced jet and first swept-wing aircraft. Over 200 were planned, but the air force bought Lockheed T-33s instead and only 66 were completed. They served until March 2006. Fuji also built 275 FA-200 Aero Subaru four-seaters for private owners.

Trainers, helicopters and a new name

By the late 1980s 80 per cent of Fuji’s sales came from cars, but the aerospace division built helicopters for the Self-Defense Forces, target drones and the centre wings of the Boeing 777 and 787. The T-7 turboprop trainer won a JASDF competition in 1998, was thrown out when Fuji managers were arrested for bribing a politician, and won again in 2000. In April 2017 the company renamed itself after its best-known product: Subaru.

Rebuilt from the wreckage of Nakajima, the maker of the wartime Hayabusa, Fuji gave post-war Japan its first jet, the T-1 trainer, then became far better known for Subaru cars.Fuji Heavy Industries · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

Fuji Heavy Industries in numbers

The company

In short
Founded 1953

  • Formed by five fragments of the wartime Nakajima company
  • Cars (Subaru), buses, rail cars and aircraft
  • 80% of sales from cars by the late 1980s
  • Renamed Subaru Corporation, 1 April 2017

Production

Best known for
T-1 Hatsutaka

  • Beech T-34 Mentor under licence (176)
  • T-1, Japan’s first jet trainer (66)
  • KM-2, T-3 and T-7 trainers
  • FA-200 Aero Subaru (275)
  • Centre wings for Boeing 777 and 787

Today

Now
Now Subaru Corporation

  • Aerospace division continues under the Subaru name
  • Subaru Bell UH-2 replacing the JGSDF’s UH-1Js

The numbers

Sales
US$4.3 billion1989
Share of sales from cars
80%late 1980s
T-34 Mentors built under licence
176
The aircraft

Every notable Fuji Heavy Industries aircraft

Fuji KM-2Primary trainer · first flight 1962 · 64 builtFuji T-7Turboprop primary trainer

Photos: Hunini / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); 航空自衛隊 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Beech T-34 Mentor (licence) Primary trainer 176 Retired Fuji’s first product
Fuji LM-1 Nikko Liaison aircraft 27 Retired Four-seat development of the Mentor
Fuji T-1 Hatsutaka Jet trainer 1958 66 Retired Japan’s first jet trainer; retired March 2006
Fuji KM-2 Primary trainer 1962 64 Retired 62 for the JMSDF, 2 for the JGSDF as TL-1
Fuji FA-200 Aero Subaru Four-seat light aircraft 1965 275 Retired
Fuji T-3 (KM-2B) Primary trainer 1978 50 Retired Tandem cockpit for the JASDF
Fuji T-7 Turboprop primary trainer In service Allison 250 engine; first delivered September 2002
Who flies them

Fuji Heavy Industries aircraft in the world’s air forces

2 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Fuji Heavy Industries types. 2 of them still have one in service.

Air force In service Formerly flown
Japan Air Self-Defense Force Fuji T-7
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force aviation Fuji T-5 Fuji KM-2
Places, people, records

Where Fuji Heavy Industries built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Utsunomiya · Utsunomiya, Tochigi — Utsunomiya Sharyo was one of the five founding companies

Records and firsts

  • T-1: first post-war Japanese jet, first Japanese mass-produced jet and first Japanese swept-wing aircraft
Timeline

Fuji Heavy Industries, year by year

1952

Ban on aircraft manufacture in Japan lifted

1953

Fuji Heavy Industries incorporated

1958

T-1 jet trainer first flight

1962

KM-2 first flight

1965

FA-200 Aero Subaru first flight

1978

KM-2B (T-3) first flight

1990

Loss of over US$500 million; Nissan executive takes charge

2000

T-7 wins restarted JASDF competition after bribery scandal

2006

Last T-1 retired

2014

Contract to build parts for the Boeing 777X

2017

Renamed Subaru Corporation

The family tree

Before and after Fuji Heavy Industries

Came beforeNakajimabroken up after 1945; five successor firms merged as FHI in 1953Read the Nakajima pageCame afterSubarurenamed Subaru Corporation, 1 April 2017Read the Subaru page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about Fuji Heavy Industries

Is Fuji Heavy Industries the same as Subaru?
Yes. Fuji Heavy Industries renamed itself Subaru Corporation on 1 April 2017.
What was Japan’s first jet trainer?
The Fuji T-1 Hatsutaka, first flown in January 1958; 66 were built and the last retired in 2006.
Was Fuji related to Nakajima?
Yes. FHI was formed in 1953 from companies split off from the wartime Nakajima Aircraft Company.
What aircraft parts does Subaru make?
Among other things, the centre wing sections of the Boeing 777 and 787.

Continue the tour

Around Fuji Heavy Industries

JapanKawasakiA Kobe shipyard that taught itself to fly with a German tutor built Japan’s only liquid-cooled wartime fighter, gave the world Kawasaki motorbikes, and now builds…Read the Kawasaki pageJapanNakajimaJapan’s first aircraft company built the Hayabusa, the Pearl Harbor torpedo bombers and the engine of the Zero, warned against the war it armed, and lives on as…Read the Nakajima pageThe indexAll aircraft manufacturersEvery company that built an aircraft flown by the air forces in the Order of Battle, current and historic.Open the list
Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.