was the national airline of the Empire of Japan during World War II.
History
With the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, there was a tremendous need for air transport capability by the Japanese military, which had traditionally drawn on the resources of the civilian national flag carrier, Japan Air Transport, for its charter requirements. As Japan Air Transport's capacity was limited, conflict arose between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy over priority, and the government saw the need for the creation of a single, national monopoly. The government bought a 50 percent share of Japan Air Transport, and renamed it the Dai Nippon Kōkū in December 1938.
In the late 1930s, Dai Nippon Kōkū operated an extensive international network with a combination of foreign and domestic aircraft. The airline was linked with Manchukuo National Airways for routes in Chosen and Manchukuo, and also had routes in the Japanese occupied portions of mainland China. Internally, Dai Nippon Kōkū linked the Japanese home islands with the Kwantung Leased Territory, Korea, Taiwan, Karafuto, and Saipan and Palau in the South Seas Mandate. The airline served the west and central Pacific areas using converted military flying boats. By 1943, the airline flew a circular military convoy route from Taiwan through the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and southern China. Operations continued until the surrender of Japan in August 1945, despite heavy losses. Haneda Airport was seized by Allied forces in September, and the airline was formally disbanded in October.
;17 May 1939: Lockheed 14-WG3B Super Electra (J-BCOZ, Kuma) struck a fence on takeoff from Fukuoka Airport and crashed, killing six of 11 on board.
;26 August 1944: J.I.A transport piloted by Toshio Kuroiwa went missing off the Malay Peninsula.