As any sort of fast & dirty solution, the original Shiden was far from perfect. Its inherited mid-fuselage mounted wing meant the use of failure-prone long undercarriage legs. So in the “Kai” (modified) model the wing was moved to the bottom of the fuselage, shortening the landing gear. It also had a lengthened fuselage, redesigned tail, and some superfluous weight removed. “Take notice Hellcats & Corsairs!!”
The Shiden-Kai of Lt. Naoshi Kanno 343 Kokutai, May 1945.
Aviation Rapture 
A Corsair after being attacked by Kanno:-
See – https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/574631233700389442/
He claimed 12 Hellcats destroyed in 1944. Apparently Kanno had extra stipes painted on his aircraft to attract the foe. He was never found after a gun barrel blew up and damaged his Shiden. He was only 23.
That’s what I meant… 😉
Yes, and what beautiful aircraft the N1K series were. Clever people those Japs, no wonder they made such great cameras!
Indeed.
Grumman did learn the lesson of a shorter Hellcat. That’s why we have the Bearcat!
Was the Shiden Kai the only WW2 fighter that was developed from a floatplane?
I think so.
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