Samurai do Sensha

 The Japanese in the Pacific war had tanks like all other combatants however the government had pursuit of conquest with the Imperial Japanese Navy rather than the army.

What the Imperial Japanese Army got were these tanks

Getting painted, adding tracks and replacing tracks which came off.

The crazy thing about my collection of Japanese tanks is that it has taken me 20 years to get them this far along as moving, work, life and general getting around to it.

A few of them need some restoration work and paint 

Another interesting personal connection I have to these kits is that I once lived in Kita-Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, Japan where the majority of their training was conducted.

The training area now is 90% built up as residential area with a small training area reserved for the Japanese Airborne division.

Japanese tank doctrine was based on their experience in fighting in China during the 1930s when they began their conquest of Asia. The Imperial Japanese staff concluded that their main land opponent would be the Chinese and to a lesser extent the Soviets.

The British, French, Dutch and Americans would be dealt with via the Navy. 

However, the war did not go the way the Imperial Japanese staff thought it would and despite succeses in China and battle with the Soviets, Japanese tank production and development did not progress as it did for the other combatants.