They did have tanks. And some of the designs were interesting to say the least. I wouldn't object to a 1/16th Japanese Type 5. Japan's Tiger, supposedly able to mount an 88mm naval cannon that would have shredded anything the US fielded during the war. Only one prototype was ever built but it would be an interesting RC tank for sure.
Not saying they didn't have tanks. But, they're hardly known because they played small roles at best and weren't all that great in comparison to the US, British, German and Soviet tanks. Japanese played with several ideas, but lacked "tank country". They were mostly on islands and in the jungle. The stuff they fielded (regardless of WoT) was mostly small, under armored and under-gunned. Interesting tidbit, though, they did have a FlaK88 on Okinawa crewed by a German team. They recognized the value of killing tanks, but lacked the materials to produce and the logistics lanes to move them.