While based at Hankou, the bombers of the Genzan Air Group were primarily assigned to strategic bombing missions in Sichuan Province, while the fighters were assigned to combat air patrol and ground support missions in support of Imperial Japanese Army operations.

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Genzan Air Group was deployed to Saigon, French Indochina.

On May 1, 1942, Genzan's flying unit was redeployed to Rabaul, New Britain to support the Japanese campaign in New Guinea.

The group participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea, without success, and made numerous bombing attacks against Port Moresby.

In July, after the cancellation of Operation Mo, the unit was withdrawn to Japan and was based at Misawa, Aomori for training.