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Challenge for the Sky
Flying has always been humankind’s ultimate dream.
In 1891, 12 years before the world’s first motor-operated aircraft, was invented and flown, a Japanese aviation pioneer discovered the principles of the airplane.
His name was Chuhachi Ninomiya. Undeterred by the lack of a suitable engine, Ninomiya used stethoscope tubing to drive the propellor—an idea perhaps inspired by his time as a pharmacist in the military—and his model aircraft flew for 10 meters. Later, Ninomiya became a director of a predecessor to Sumitomo Pharma. His desire to achieve lives on as part of Sumitomo Pharma today.