The A2N was originally developed as a private venture by Nakajima for the Imperial Japanese Navy.

[1] Powered by Bristol Jupiter VI engines, these were rejected as not being regarded as offering a significant improvement over the Nakajima A1N.

[2] Jingo Kurihara carried out a major redesign, and another prototype, the A2N1, powered by a 432 kW (579 hp) Nakajima Kotobuki 2, was completed in May 1931.

The Navy Type 90 Carrier-based fighter flew from the Hōshō, Kaga and Ryūjō.

[4] On what would become the first air battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War-Second World War for the air-combat units of these aircraft carriers,[5] A2N fighter pilot Akio Matsuba from Kaga, flying air-cover in support of Japanese troop-landings in the Battle of Shanghai on 16 August 1937, shot-down a Chinese Air Force Douglas O-2M on an attack mission against Japanese forces in Shanghai.