Re:Japan: The Harbinger State
by JamesBarney on Monday January 23, 2023 @06:30PM
(#34496656)
And weirdly enough making high quality ball bearings.
I heard that the pachinko industry got its head start from the post-war surplus production of ball bearings. Perhaps the quality you mention is now feasible as a result of the scale economics from pachinko ball production.
In terms of “core industrial competencies”—ability to design and build a nuke, ability to make advanced materials, ability to design and build a competitive microprocessor, ability to put things in space, etc.—Japan is still the second most technologically advanced country in the world.