My unscientific observation:

I am currently on my third visit to Japan auditing [food] factories. I audit factories all over the world, and I am shocked at the state of Japanese factories. The quality is top notch, but the physical plants seems stuck in the 80's or maybe 90's. Except the two decades of rust on some of these facilities, you would think you were time warped back 20 years. On top of that, the leve of utilization and efficiency is extemely low.

The big cities like Osaka and Tokyo are beautiful and vibrant, but out where the manufacturing is taking place is a whole different story.

It should be unrelated, but the Shinkansen trains are really nice and efficient, but at least in the green cars that my company pays for, they seem to be 75-80% empty.

My personal assessment is that Japan has been trying "stimulus" for the last two decades. With stimulus money flowing why should anyone try to be efficient in the utilization of their factory? Why should they update it?

I may be wrong on my take, but I am not encouraged to the idea of stimulus somehow successfully jump starting an economy, nor am I encouraged about the future of Japan.