The Kawanishi N1K Shiden (Violet Lightning) was first developed from the Kyofu float-plane which was was the first to use the N1K designation. This aircraft was designed to support Japan's island campaigns in case carriers and land bases were unavailable and had excellent performance despite the drag caused by the central main float and two outriggers. Rather hastily it was then decided to adapt a wheeled landing gear and so the Shiden was born, otherwise unchanged from its floatplane predecessor yet becoming arguably the IJN's finest fighter of the war. Thanks to its almost unbelievable maneuvrability (thanks to automatic combat flaps) it was more than a match for the US Hellcat or any other Allied fighter for that matter and also a great bomber destroyer thanks to its four 20-mm wing-mounted cannon. Its main drawback was an unreliable engine which left many of these fine machines unserviceable. Additionally, like most late-war Japanese aircraft too few were built to turn the tide while a number were used in kamikaze strikes during the Okinawa campaign.

The prototype of the N1K1 Kyofu (Mighty Wind) float-plane was first flown in mid 1942 and was followed by the wheeled N1K1-J Shiden whose maiden flight occured on 27 December 1942 with production beginning the following year. Variants included the N1K1-Ja with nose guns eliminated in favor of underwing cannon and the N1K1-Jb and -Jc fighter-bombers with a 500 kg and 1,000 kg bomb load capacity respectively. An much improved variant was the N1K2-J which entered service during the last year of the conflict and featured a low wing plus a redesigned tail and a simplified airframe which took half the time to build. It was complemented by the N1K2-Ja fighter-bomber and a number of experimental follow-ups which included the N1K3-J with additional armament, the N1K4-J with a more powerful powerplant and the N1K4-A carrier fighter. A two-seat trainer was known as the N1K2-K.