Certainly there was also significant attention to some of the more specific processes and practices associated with Japanese manufacturing (and far less to US manufacturing) at the time, which have been largely proven out. (And are arguably being reflected in a lot of modern DevOps software practices.) However, a lot of notable economists and others were also calling for much more systematic cooperation/planning between government and companies (especially manufacturers). Sematech was an example from the semiconductor industry.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_International_Trad...

From 1990 to 2013 Japan's per capita income actually doubled, translating into over 3% growth per annum.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/gdp-growth

Japan has been suffering from low inflation and at times deflation. This means that debts do not shrink with inflation. I think the stockmarket and property markets have been pretty flat too over the period. What growth there has been has been assisted by "extraordinary" (well they were before 2008) monetary measures and growth in government debt to 230% of GDP.

> Why aren't they getting married?

> There are both cultural and economic barriers. In Japanese tradition, marriage was more about duty than romantic love. Arranged marriages were the norm well into the 1970s, and even into the 1990s most marriages were facilitated by "go-betweens," often the grooms' bosses. Left to their own devices, Japanese men aren't sure how to find wives — and many are shying away from the hunt, because they simply can't afford it. Wages have stagnated since the 1990s, while housing prices have shot up. A young Japanese man has good reason to believe that his standard of living would drop immensely if he had to house and support a wife and children — especially considering that his wife likely wouldn't be working.

0: http://blogos.com/article/104198/