Uchikura & Co., LLC

Another interesting U.S.–Japan connection is Miss Veedol.

 

Many people today do not recognize the name Veedol, but it was a famous American motor oil brand created by the Tide Water Oil Company in 1913. Veedol became well known after Henry Ford selected it for the Model T, America's first mass-produced automobile.

 

The Japan connection came in 1931.

 

A Bellanca aircraft named Miss Veedol successfully completed the first non-stop flight from Japan to the mainland United States. Pilots Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Jr. flew from Sabishiro Beach in Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, to Wenatchee, Washington, covering more than 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean without stopping. The aircraft was sponsored by the Veedol oil company and carried the company's name.

 

This flight was one of the most significant aviation achievements of its era and helped demonstrate that direct trans-Pacific air travel was possible. It also created a lasting connection between Japan and Washington State long before regular commercial flights crossed the Pacific.

 

As a Washington resident, I find it fascinating that one of the earliest direct links between Japan and Washington involved a small airplane named after an American motor oil brand. Today, Wenatchee still remembers the arrival of Miss Veedol, while Misawa in Japan commemorates the departure point of this historic flight.

 

A small motor oil brand ended up becoming part of aviation history and a unique chapter in U.S.–Japan relations.

 

https://www.missveedol.org/1931-flight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SEGPyB-LBg