Collected here at the Ikazuchi site are profiles on many lesser known tanks and armored fighting vehicles. While information on the Type95 Ha-Go can be readily found elsewhere, these machines of war are not commonly found in media or games. They are all worthy of inclusion, however, as you will find!
Click on the links in the index below to be taken to the respective pages for each, with photos, specs, and more:
SNLF 120mm Naval Short Gun Chi-Ha – The Special Naval Landing Forces had access to this Chi-Ha variant that mounted a very large submarine gun.
Type 89 Medium Tank – The first mass-produced tank of Japan’s that saw extensive action in Asia during the wars with China also survived into WW2.
SS-Ki Flamethrower Tank / Engineering Vehicle – A multi-purpose engineering vehicle based on the Type 89 Medium Tank.
The Ke-Nu and Ke-Ri Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tank Variants
SR-II Ro-Go Amphibious Tank – Early forerunner of the Type2 Ka-Mi.
Experimental Armored Rocket Minesweeper GS – A novel approach to clearing mines and obstacles.
O-I Superheavy Tank and other Heavy Tank Projects
Type 90 Naval Sumida Armored Car – A versatile design meant for urban assault and security.
Type 92 Heavy Armored Vehicle – The first light tank designed and made in Japan was used as a scout vehicle by the Cavalry branch of the Imperial Army.
Type 3 Ka-Chi Amphibious Tank – Like the much smaller and more common Type 2 Ka-Mi , this behemoth was fully at home in water or on land and could carry a crew of up to 7.
Type 5 Na-To Self-Propelled Gun – The Na-To prototypes bore an advanced Japanese anti-tank gun on the same tracked-carrier platform as the Type 4 Ha-To mortar launcher.
Type 93 Naval Armored Car – One of the last models of armored cars built by Japan, used by the SNLF primarily for urban security in China.
Type 2 Ke-To – The pinnacle of Japanese manufactured light-tank development, it never left Japan’s home islands.
Type 95 Heavy Tank and Early Prototypes – This series of largely unknown prototypes and experimental tanks were functional and impressive for the era, but ultimately were not approved for mass production.
Type 92 Chiyoda Armored Car – One of the most-produced models, this was typical of Japanese armored cars of the time, and relatively poorly represented in games.
Imperial Japanese Armored Car Disambiguation, Use in Media
INFANTRY: TYPE 97 AT RIFLE, AND OTHER IJA ANTI-ARMOR HAND-HELD WEAPONS – For games that aren’t just about vehicles.
DEBUNKING JAPANESE TANK MYTHS – Tired of the stale arguments against Japanese tanks based on hit-and-run half-truths and misinformation? Read up here!
JAPANESE TANKS THAT SAW COMBAT – This list distinguishes between Japanese tanks and armored vehicles that were documented as having been in combat, vs. those that were not.
DEPLOYABLE IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMORED VEHICLES FOR ALTERNATE HISTORICAL SCENARIOS – The tanks in this shorter list did not see combat in WW2, but they realistically could have, and more than one of each were produced.
POST WW2 JAPANESE VEHICLES 1945-1965
Ikazuchi 
Have you heard of R.U.S.E? The game has the Japanese as dlc. The game also uses the development eras idea as a part of the gameplay. It is available on xbox 360 and ps3, there was a steam version but that got pulled due to licensing expirations according to ubisoft.
Hello, why not a small article about the meaning of the words so-mo or ka-chi ke-to etc … and the other designations of japanese afv ?
thanks
hubert