In 1931, the Aeronautical Research Institute of the
Tokyo Imperial University commenced studies to design an aircraft to break the world closed-circuit distance record, gaining a grant from the Japanese
Diet or parliament to finance the project. Initial design was completed in August 1934, and the Tokyo Gas and Electric Company (also known as Gasuden) was selected to build the aircraft, despite the fact that it had only limited resources, and had previously only built small numbers of wooden light aircraft. The design produced by the Aeronautical Research Institute and Gasuden was a single-engined low-wing
cantilever monoplane with retractable undercarriage. It was of all-metal construction, with fabric-covered outer wings and control surfaces. Construction was slow, and the aircraft was not completed until March 1937. It was first flown on 25 May 1937, piloted by
Major Yuzo Fujita of the
Imperial Japanese Army. ==Operational history==