Sort of like the US did to Japan in the 50s and 60s? Maybe that's just what happens to all economies as they mature.

I am helping a Japanese friend who has started his own small company. He's a risk taker and if he fails at this one, he'll almost certainly try to start something else. It is true he'd never be hired by a keiretsu but I can't imagine that he wants to be.

All of this doesn't take away from the problems Japan is facing. It is truly amazing that they aren't trying something now to deal with the problem of their aging population, but apparently Japanese nationalism (kinder term) or racism (less kind term) stands in the way of that.