The fundamental studies of a repetitive soft flash x‐ray generator having a high‐durability diode for high‐speed radiography in biomedical and technological fields are described. This generator consisted of the following essential components: a constant negative high‐voltage power supply, a line‐type high‐voltage pulser with two 10 m coaxial‐cable condensers, each with a capacity of 1.0 nF, a thyratron pulser as a trigger device, an oil‐diffusion pump, and a flash x‐ray tube. The x‐ray tube was of a diode type which was evacuated by an oil‐diffusion pump with a pressure of approximately 6.7×10−3Pa and was composed of a planar tungsten anode, a planar ferrite cathode, and a polymethylmethacrylate tube body. The space between the anode and cathode electrodes (AC space) could be regulated from the outside of the tube. The two cable condensers were charged from −40 to −60 kV by a power supply, and the output voltage was about −1.5 times the charged voltage. Both the first peak voltage and current increased according to increases in the charged voltage, and the maximum values of the voltage and current were about 90 kV and 0.72 kA, respectively. The pulse widths had values of less than 100 ns, and the maximum x‐ray intensity was approximately 1.1 &mgr;C/kg at 0.5 m per pulse. The repetition rate was less than 54 Hz, and the maximum focal spot size was about 2.0×2.5 mm.