The JGSDF decided to develop its own tank, which resulted in the development of the current range of modern Japanese tanks built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
For various reasons, including obsolescence of the tanks in JGSDF service at the time, the JGSDF in 1954 was given the option to either purchase new American built M46 Pattons and later the M47 Patton or develop its own Main Battle Tank (MBT). However, due to the outbreak of the Korean War, SCAP ordered Japan to re-militarize, forming the Japanese Ground-Self Defense Force and providing M4A3E8 Sherman and M24 Chaffee tanks (an initial plan to provide M26 Pershings was abandoned in the face of State Department opposition). Īfter the Second World War, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers dismantled all military manufacturing and development facilities in Japan, causing Japan to lose the technology base required to manufacture tanks and armored vehicles. Armored vehicle development and fielding suffered as a result a shift to designs with heavier armor and larger guns to fight against the larger tanks of the Allies came too late for the Japanese to field superior tanks on the battlefield. Aside from the invasion of Malaya, and the Philippines, large-scale Japanese use of tanks was limited during the early years of the war and therefore development of newer designs were not given high priority as the Japanese strategy shifted to a "defensive orientation" after the 1941-42 victories. During the mid-1930s, the "tank actions" there were mainly against opposing infantry as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions consisting of Vickers export tanks, German PzKpfw I light tanks, and Italian CV33 tankettes. Many Japanese designs were of tankettes and light tanks, for use in campaigns in Manchuria and elsewhere in China. Japan took interest in tanks and procured some of the foreign designs, and then went to build its own. During and after World War I, Britain and France were the intellectual leaders in tank design, with other countries generally following and adopting their designs. After the war, many nations needed to have tanks, but only a few had the industrial resources to design and build them. The First World War established the validity of the tank concept. This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Japanese Army from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era.
Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go first prototype, 1934
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