Kawanishi Aircraft Company

The Kawanishi Aircraft Company was a Japanese aircraft manufacturer active during World War II. It was founded as Kawanishi Engineering Works in 1920 in Hyogo Prefecture as an outgrowth of the Kawanishi conglomerate, which had been funding the Nakajima Aircraft Company, and it built its first aircraft, the Kawanishi K-1 mail-carrying aircraft, in 1921. It was best known for seaplanes such as the H6K and H8K flying boats, and its N1K-J land-based fighter, derived from the N1K1 floatplane fighter, was considered one of the best of the war. After Japan's defeat the company was reborn as Shin Meiwa Industries, later ShinMaywa, which continued to create flying boats such as the PS-1 and US-2.