Motor torpedo boats depended on a civilian industrial base

Did Japan have motor torpedo boats, and what constrained their development?

Yes. Japan had motor torpedo boats, but it lacked the same domestic motor-yacht industry as Britain and the United States and lost time by repeatedly changing programme direction.

Japan did build motor torpedo boats, though it lacked the domestic motor-yacht industry available to Britain and the United States. British and American navies could draw on firms that already knew how to build fast civilian craft. Japan had imported more of this capability and had less of an established local design pattern. Reports of foreign developments repeatedly pulled Japanese requirements in new directions. A navy eventually has to choose a workable design and build it, since constant reconsideration can leave nothing ready for war.