The "Shiden Kai" was developed from the seaplane fighter "Kyofu."
The land-based fighter "Shiden", which was fitted with wheels instead of floats for strong winds and was equipped with a small, powerful Nakajima "Homare" engine, went into mass production in 1943 and was officially adopted in October 1944. However, as there were many incomplete aspects as a land-based fighter, the fuselage was redesigned, the position of the main wing was changed from the Shiden's mid-wing to a low-wing, and the automatic air combat flaps were improved to create a prototype of the full-fledged land-based local fighter "Shiden Kai" (N1K2-J), which was officially adopted in January 1945.
The later production Shiden Kai (N1K2-J) had a smaller vertical stabilizer area than the earlier production Shiden Kai. The 343rd Naval Air Group was famous for systematically equipping and operating the Shiden Kai. On March 19, 1945, 54 Shiden Kais intercepted US Navy carrier-based F6F, F4U, and SB2C aircraft that attacked over Matsuyama in Shikoku with 7 Shidens in the air superiority zone above, shooting down 52 aircraft and demonstrating the superiority of the Shiden Kai.
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Crew: 1 person
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Width: 11.99m
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Length: 9.346m
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Height: 3.96m
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Total weight: 4,200kg
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Engine: Homare 21 type
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Takeoff power: 2,000 horsepower
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Maximum speed: 594km/h (altitude 5,600m)
- Armament: 20mm machine gun x 4