Too late for the war

The Japanese Navy built a striking and futuristic fighter jet that they never got to use. It stands out in history, and in fighting fictional monsters...

Author

Stephen Turner
January 28, 2025

Wandering through Wikipedia… your weekday dose of the weird and wonderful from the greatest website in the world!

In the closing stages of WWII, the Japanese Imperial Navy had a radical new fighter jet in mind, propeller-driven with wings at the rear of the fuselage, and a nose-mounted canard, and a pusher engine. But it never went past the testing stage.

The Kyushu J7W Shinden looked flash, but that’s as far as it got.

Only two prototypes of the Shinden were ever created and its first test flights were the same week the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. One of them was scrapped, while the other was taken by US intelligence. While the Japanese military thoughts they could build over a thousand, the end of the war ended any use for the Shinden.

Did you know?

The Shinden was featured prominently in Godzilla Minus One, where the hero of the story, a disgraced fighter pilot, flew one against the monster of the story!