[citation needed] After the adoption of the Type 74, the Japanese High Command was already looking for a superior, completely indigenous tank design to defeat the Soviet T-72.

These were armed with the Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore gun also fitted to the German Leopard 2 and, in a modified version, the US M1A1/M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks.

These second prototypes were used for development and then user trials, all of which were completed by December 1989, before Japan formally introduced the Type 90 in August 1990.

[2] With the exception of the 120 mm smoothbore gun, which is made under license from Rheinmetall of Germany, the Type 90 and its subsystems are all designed and built in Japan, leading to higher per unit costs than comparable models from NATO countries such as the M1 Abrams and the Challenger 2.

Due to a perception that Type 90s are unsuited to operations in the tight confines of Japan's urban areas, they are preferentially assigned to the JGSDF Fuji School Brigade and the 7th Armored Division based in Hokkaido, where there is sufficient room for maneuver.

The Type 90 mounts a Rheinmetall L44 120 mm smoothbore cannon licensed produced by Japan Steel Works Limited.

[citation needed] The gun is armed and loaded by a mechanical bustle autoloader (conveyor-belt type) developed by Mitsubishi of Japan.

As with autoloader-equipped Russian main battle tanks, the French Leclerc, and the Swedish Strv 103, the Type 90 achieves manpower savings by reducing the crew to three.

[citation needed] The profile of the Type 90 is similar to the German Leopard 2A4 and it uses modular ceramic and steel composite armor, common in contemporary tank designs.

After the asset price bubble burst in 1991 and the collapse of Soviet Union in 1992, Japan started to cut its defense budget.

In order to save budget for Kongo-class destroyers and other new weapons, Japan made a plan to reduce the size of its tank force.