Imperial Japanese Airways

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Imperial Japanese Airways (大日本航空株式会社 , Dai Nippon Kōkū Kabushiki Kaisha^?, sometimes also translated Greater Japan Airlines or Greater Japan Airways) was the national Japanese airline before and during World War II.

The airline was linked with Manchurian National Airlines (Manshukoku Koku KK) for routes in Chosen and Manchukuo. Internationally, it had routes in mainland China, Indochina, the Dutch Indies, and the Philippines, and it connected with European and American airlines in Southeast Asia. Flights were planned to Thailand, Burma, and British India, but these were never completed. Internally, it linked the Japanese metropolitan island areas with the Kwantung Leased Territory, South Manchurian Railway zone, and Japanese territories on Mainland China, Korea, Taiwan, Karafuto, the South Pacific Mandate, and nearby islands. The airline made special flights to serve the West and Central Pacific areas using converted military flying boats.

Services continued until August 1945, despite heavy losses and damage to installations and aircraft. After the Allied occupation, surviving aircraft and equipment were confiscated. In the Dutch East Indies, Indonesian nationalists used a Kawanishi H6K2-L, left there in 1945-46, during their fight against the Dutch authorities for independence.

[edit] Aircraft

Mitsubishi MC-20 (the civil version of Military transport Ki-57 "Topsy")
Mitsubishi MC-21 (the civil version of Bomber Ki-21 "Sally")
Tachikawa Y-59 (the civil version of Military Transport Ki-54 "Hickory")
Tachikawa LO "Thelma" (licence-built Lockheed Model 14-38)
Nakajima Ki-34 "Thora"
Kawasaki Ki-56 "Thalia" (civil version)
Kokusai Ki-59 "Theresa" (civil version)
Mitsubishi K3M3-L "Pine" (civil version)
Nakajima Ki-6 (civil version)
Showa/Nakajima L2D2 "Tabby" (licence-built Douglas DC-3)

For the Pacific Ocean routes:

Kawanishi H6K2-L "Mavis" (a civil version of the armed long range seaplane)
Kawanishi H6K4-L "Mavis" (a modification)
and possibly some Kawanishi H8K2-L "Seiku" ("Emily") (civil version of the armed seaplane of the same type)

[edit] People

Japanese Navy figther ace Toshio Kuraiwa,during the spring of 1938 served in the 12th Air Group.in next year,1939 he left the Navy and joined the Greater Japan Airlines.He flew continuously as a transport pilot until on 26 August 1944 he went missing(as possibly downed) over the Malay Peninsula.