It is stated that Gen Hideki Tojo, War Minister and Chief of the Army General Staff, was responsible for the raising of IJA paratroopers. Much impressed by the successes of German Fallschirmjager, he directed the IJA to organize similar forces, and the first Raiding Training Unit was raised in December 1940 at the IJA flight school at Hamamatsu airbase on the south coast of Honshu. Ten IJA Air Service officers gathered as the cadre under LtCol Keigo Kawashima. None of the officers of this secret "Kawashima Unit" had any parachuting experience, but they studied all available information, and proposed training and tactical techniques. They dropped dummies in parachute trials, and wrote a basic manual before undertaking live jumps for the first time on February 20, 1941. In mid February, 250 trainees joined the unit at Ichigaya airbase, Tokyo, where half of the unit had moved. All these volunteers were non-commissioned officers, in order to form a leadership and instruction cadre; with the second class, privates also entered the unit. Initial physical fitness training was based on the belief that paratroopers required the agility of gymnasts to avoid landing injuries, resulting in the unit's early nickname of the "Kawashima Circus." Most volunteers were 20-25 years of age; the maximum age for officers was 28, though regimental officers could be up to 35. Most officers were assigned to the IJA Air Service; for example, Col Kawashima would go on to command the 1st Raiding Flying Brigade.
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