While I love japan and want to see it recover and be strong…. i have a fear it’s not going to happen anytime soon. sucks, cause i’ve put a lot of sweat and blood into developing my personal integration with the japanese culture… marriage, language, life, family, etc….
As a further testament to their downward spiral… which i attribute to the culture’s lack of :
1) innovation based on what other cultures’ needs are
2) inability to adapt
3) inability to accept other viewpoints, not simply as “opinions” but to try them out….
I’ve recently found out that until 2005, Japan led the way in total number of patents. after 2005, …. they are falling behind. Now they are teetering between #4 and #3. #1, by the way is America.
This is only one factor… and by no means proves anything…. but patents have historically been a good indicator of how a country will develop in the future and who the leaders of tomorrow’s innovations are.