Known as “Experimental Heavy Tank I,” this vehicle had a main turret with a short-barreled 57mm gun and two smaller turrets each holding one machine gun. Work began in May 1926 and a prototype rolled out in February of the next year. Where other countries could order parts and sub-assemblies “off the shelf,” Osaka Arsenal would have to make over 10,000 parts for Hara’s first design. Lacking a domestic automobile industry, the Japanese had to design almost every aspect of their new tank from scratch.
A few Renault M1917 light tanks were imported to train a cadre, while Japanese tank designers led by the young engineer Tomio Hara began work on the first domestic tank design. Over the next several years the Imperial Army obtained a total of 16 tanks of various models, and in 1925 decided to form a force of four tank battalions. Observers attached to the British Army tried to keep their superiors informed of new developments, and when reports came of the strange new machines called “tanks,” the Japanese asked the British to provide a sample.Ī British Mark IV tank was imported in 1918, along with a British crew to demonstrate its capabilities. The Imperial Japanese Army saw little combat in the First World War, its battlefield experience not extending far beyond conquest of the German naval base at Tsingtao.
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