Why the Japanese automakers fell behind on EVs and can they still catch up?

[TheDisneyParksfanC8]

When it comes to the EV race, The Japanese automakers have been gotten flack for being considerably behind the American, European, and Korean competitors. The biggest reason of course being that the Japanese were largely victims of their own success. They were big on Hybrid tech and often had the most fuel efficient CAFE ratings of any automakers even for plain non hybrid ICE vehicles. Other factors include a more conservative culture in Japan where they don't like to take a lot of risks and Toyota's CEO being anti EV. (Toyota has the most influence on Japan's auto industry and whatever they do the others follow) While there has been more movement from other Japanese brands recently like Honda breaking ground on a new Ohio battery plant and retooling the Marysville Ohio plant for US in-house developed Honda EVs starting in 2026, and Toyota promising to develop an in house EV Tesla like platform, can the Japanese still catch up? Are they right in waiting as by 2026 maybe EV adoption will really start to pick up more or will they fall further behind as other automakers (like Hyundai) will have or could have next gen EV platforms that have more range and cost less? Though the latter will depend on the specs of the Japanese EV platforms.