The G8N came about after the failure of the G5N Shinzan. Nakajima was requested to create a new heavy bomber by the Imperial Japanese Navy in February 1943. The first example was completed in late 1944, and first flew on 23 October of that year. 64 were planned to be produced, but only 4 were completed before the project was cancelled due to lack of materials. Captured examples were later tested by the United States and found to have good performance. As only four G8Ns were built, there were no variants.