The Japanese Navy Arsenal at Yokosuka became involved in aircraft production in 1913, when an aeroplane factory was set up, with its first work being to build several Maurice Farman and Curtiss Seaplanes.

A prototype of this new design, powered by a 140 hp (104 kW) Salmson water-cooled radial engine, made its maiden flight early in 1918.

[a][3] The Ro-go Ko-gata was a three-bay biplane of wood and fabric construction, with twin main floats and wings that folded backwards for storage.

[3] Three of the early aircraft were modified in 1919 for making long-range flights, with one of the cockpits replaced by additional fuel storage.

This allowed a record flight of 1,300 km (808 mi) to be flown in 11 hours, 35 min on 20 April 1919.