It followed up on earlier research by Nakajima and the Technical Division of Imperial Army Headquarters into boosting a large radial engine with an exhaust-driven turbo-supercharger, which had begun in 1942, well before the B-29 raids began.

[1] The efforts of the Technical Division of Imperial Army Headquarters eventually culminated into the Tachikawa Ki-94-I, while the Ki-87 was developed as a fall-back project, using less stringent requirements.

[2][3] Nakajima started in July 1943 with the construction of three prototypes, to be completed between November 1944 and January 1945, and seven pre-production aircraft, to be delivered by April 1945.

The sole completed prototype was in natural metal finish; some paintings show a black anti-glare area in front of the cockpit, but this is not seen on any of the known photographs of the plane.

[1][8][9] However, James P. Gallagher took a photo of the Ki-87 at the abandoned Japanese Army fighter base at Chofu after Japan's surrender.