It's a holdover from all the way back to the Type 74. Since the gunner and commander were already on the right, so they put the driver on the loaders side to better distribute the crew. Japan thought about going for a center driver position like on the Abrams, but decided against it because it took up more space and decreased ammo carried. They decided to just keep the driver on the same side as the Type 74 since crews often started out as 74 crews or initially trained on them. With how little Japan puts tanks on public roads its not necessarily an issue and its not an issue in war time. For vehicles that do frequent the road like the Type 16, Type 87 RCV, Type 96, they do have right hand drive. When crews of Type 74s transfer to Type 16s they often have a transitional period in the Type 87 to get them used to right hand drive and wheeled vehicle handling.OK, odd point to make perhaps and it may have been made earlier but, in Japan they drive on e correct side of the road and you want the driver either the centre or OFF side of the road/vehicle. This has the driver on the LEFT side of the vehicle so, what gives?