SCIENCE said:

party_pants said:

captain_spalding said:

That’s because Japan settled into a ‘that’s-how-it’s-going-to-be-from-now-on’ model back around 1965, and that’s how it’s been, and how it will be.

from about the mid-90s, after their real estate boom and crash. In 1965 they were still doing well, and until about the 1980s people were talking about Japan overtaking the US as the world’s largest economy by the turn of the century. It never happened of course, and Japan has massive structural problems they can’t fix.

like being stuck on small islands

That too.

I was thinking more along the lines of their shrinking population, low birthrates and large population of retirees. Secondly, a few very large and very powerful mega corporations dominate the economy, there is not much room for innovation and start-ups in Japan.