The KOMATSU Bulldozer G40 (Komatsu Type 1 Soil Leveling Machine) is the first bulldozer manufactured in Japan. The machine was created, during World War II, by mounting a dozing blade in front of a gasoline engine tractor that had already been developed and manufactured, in response to a government request to produce heavy earth-moving machinery. Around 1943, the main blade operating system of foreignmade bulldozers was the cable-operating system. For the Komatsu Bulldozer G40, however, the revolutionary hydraulic operating system was used for the first time in the world.
The bulldozer exhibited at Komatsu Techno Center was in service during the war in the Philippines. After the war, one that was dumped into the sea as a result of condemnation by the United States was later salvaged and used on a farm in Australia. The machine was found in 1979, was returned to its homeland of Japan 35 years later, and is exhibited to this day.