>By 2018, only one such company (Toyota) remains in the top 50. Many Japanese companies replaced a large part of their workforce with temporary workers, who had little job security and fewer benefits. As of 2009, these non-traditional employees made up more than a third of the labor force. For the wider Japanese workforce, wages have stagnated. From their peak in 1997, real wages have since fallen around 13% —an unprecedented number among developed nations. -Wikipedia on the Lost Decade (1990-2???)

Of course wages will stagnate, that’s entirely expected. And of course your industries will be eclipsed.

But are you arguing their lot has gotten worse in an absolute sense? Or just a relative sense?

"Real wages have fallen 13%" - that sounds like a pretty substantial drop in living standards to me.