The aircraft was strut-braced, high-wing cabin monoplane with fixed wide-track landing gear, and it was powered by a single 300 hp (220 kW) water-cooled radial piston engine.

Pilot and gunner were located in separate open cockpits, with an instructor and two pupils in the enclosed cabin in the fuselage.

Production continued until 1941, and examples pressed into service as liaison aircraft in the postwar period were found in a variety of national markings.

The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) had an interest in the aircraft as part of its modernization program and as a potential supplement to the Nakajima Ki-6.

The civil version was offered to commercial operators with a 420 hp (310 kW) Nakajima-built Bristol Jupiter VI nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine.