The Tiger acquired for Japan was sent only as far as Bordeaux rather than transported onward to Asia. After the Allied landings in France, German authorities requisitioned the vehicle for their own forces. It was subsequently lost somewhere on the Western Front instead of fighting the Soviet Union or serving Japan. The episode illustrates how wartime transport and emergency battlefield demand could defeat an intended technology-transfer program.
Notable Point · 2:41:25-2:42:14
Japan's Tiger tank never reached Japan
A tank-history aside explains how the Tiger purchased for Japan remained in Europe and was taken back into German service after D-Day.