[7] Approximately 2,300 were produced,[3] making it the most numerous Japanese armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War.

From early 1930s, the Japanese army began experimenting with a mechanized warfare unit combining infantry with tanks.

To solve this problem, Tomio Hara of the Army Technical Bureau proposed a new light tank capable of 40 km/h speed and started development in 1933.

[11] In 1935, at a meeting in the Army Technical Bureau, the Type 95 was proposed as the main tank for mechanized infantry units.

[22] Secondary armament was originally two 6.5 mm Type 91 machine guns, but these were replaced with two 7.7 mm Type 97 light machine guns, one mounted in the hull front and the other in the back of the turret, facing to the rear right (that is, in the five-o-clock direction).

[23] For the Type 95, two paired bogie wheels per side were suspended on a single bell crank and connected to a coil spring mounted horizontally outside the hull.

The suspension had troubles early on, with a tendency to pitch on rough ground, and so it was modified with a brace to connect the pairs of bogies.

[5][46] In armor, road speed, and weaponry, the Type 95 was far inferior to the (five years younger) American M3 Stuart light tanks, but the environment of the Philippines (where roads were sparse and tank engagements took place at near point blank range) largely minimized these disadvantages and allowed the Type 95 to be competitive, as its off-road speed and turret rotation were comparable.

[41] Under the mistaken belief that the Red Army was retreating from the area of the Khalkhyn Gol river,[51] the IJA command in Manchuria transferred the 1st Tank Corps, under the command of Lt. Gen. Yasuoka Masaomi to the village of Nomonhan to cut off the retreating Soviets at Khalkhyn Gol.

[63] Observing a Soviet artillery battery between himself and his objective, a "junction",[64] Tamada ordered an attack in the darkness.

[65] Just after midnight, a thunderstorm struck, conveniently exposing the Soviet positions while at the same time masking the advancing 4th Tank Regiment.

[69] The United States military had been operating in the Philippines since the Philippine–American War (1899-1902) and the United Kingdom had military bases in Singapore since at least the 1840s; they both had many years of so-called "jungle warfare" experience between them, which no doubt influenced their beliefs that "tanks could not operate in those jungles".

[71] On the other hand, the IJA had always been focused upon the Soviet Union and China and had never conducted major military campaigns in tropical (jungle) regions.

[72] Facing thick and impenetrable jungles, two experienced and powerful armies, and lacking any jungle combat experience themselves, the IJA's Type 95s, together with Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks, led the Japanese assault forces into taking British Malaya and Singapore by 15 February in 1942 and Bataan in the US-held Philippines by April in that same year.

[73] The Type 95 proved to be an extremely successful light tank during the early military campaigns of Japan leading into mid-1942.

[79] After the U.S./Allied landing of Kiska to recapture the island in August 1943, the U.S. captured two Type 95s and transported them to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland for study and evaluation.

Two Type 95 tanks were deployed to support the Japanese landing at Milne Bay, New Guinea, in late August 1942.

Initially, the tanks proved successful against the lightly armed Australian infantry, whose 'sticky bombs' failed to stick due to the humidity.

Although the tanks had proved reliable in the tropical conditions of Malaya, they could not handle the volume of mud caused by intense, almost daily rainfall at Milne Bay.

As the tide of the war turned against Japan, the Type 95s were increasingly expended in banzai charges or were dug-in as pillboxes in static defense positions in the Japanese-occupied islands.

In the Battle of Saipan, Type 95s attacked the Marine beachhead at dawn on 16 June 1944, and were destroyed by tank fire.

[91][92] Although tank brigades equipped with the Type 95 were present during the 1945 Soviet invasion of Manchuria, the war ended before the Red Army had engaged their main formations.

The only use of the Type 95 in any numbers against Soviet forces was at the Battle of Shumshu during the Invasion of the Kuril Islands, when shortly before the Japanese surrender had been finalized, they formed part of an armored force which unsuccessfully attacked the Soviet beach head but was defeated by their anti-tank guns.

The tank is no longer operational, however, as the original engine encountered mechanical issues and lost oil pressure during a test drive.

A second running Type-95 recovered from a Pacific island and restored largely in Poland is currently on loan to the Tank Museum at Bovington UK by its private owner.