why is Japan ahead in technology?

Answer 1

because they invest more in higher education

Answer 2

Japanese people, when they decide to get something done, put their nose to the grindstone and really do impressive feats.

When Perry's black ships came into the harbor Japan was pretty much stagnant in technology, Perry's arrival caused a burst of learning, knowledge, technological advancement. By world war 1, they were caught up, In world war 2, they had most of the infrastructure destroyed, within 10 years, they advanced extremely fast again and by 1956 they became the 2nd biggest economy in the world.

40 years of constant growth saw many times where Other countries invented something, Japan took it, improved and perfected the item. Even today, Made in Japan is a marking that many people look for, knowing that a Japanese product will, on average, work better and last longer than one made in China.

Also Education is very important in japan, about 75.9% of high school graduates attend a university, junior college, trade school, or other post-secondary institution in 2005 for example. However there is a downside, Student suicide rates from all the pressure is also abnormally high.

Answer 3

The corporations also have huge long range plans (Sony's is well into the hundreds of years into the future). By contrast, American Venture Capitalists want to know what a company will be worth in 5 years so they can sell it. The Japanese also have the highest savings rate in the world. This makes money for innovation available. They also see where the world is headed and plan for it; while GM is still making gas eating SUV's the Japanese predicted the cost of oil and started building hybrids years before they were "needed". The support of workers often causes innovation, as lifetime employment is still important in Japan. When Suzuki automated one of their factories, they didn't fire the workers, they designed a new car for the displaced employees to work on. Japanese industry is full of stories like these. America could be easily as innovative, but American companies find it more important to show profit in each quarter and R&D costs money which they aren't willing to invest like the Japanese. The comment about the military is a bit disenginuous: After WW II, WE made it illegal for the Japanese to have a military.

Answer 4

Japan leads the world in the development in some areas of technology because of their relentless effort in building the best products with advanced research and development, and world class manufacturing all backed by the government and industry that want to become the best. The R&D centers are staffed with some of the best trained scientists and engineers both from the local population as well as from around the world. Finally Japan's domestic market is the second largest in the world which makes it attractive for the companies to develop advanced technology and practical applications for their own market as well as the rest of the world.

Answer 5

They're ahead in technology (but not science) for several reasons.

1. They require calculus in high schools. The colleges stink, but their workforce is educated. The US has top colleges where many of Japan's ideas come from, but the population still doesn't believe in evolution and has a hard time with the germ theory of disease.

2. The companies have the best scientists, not the universities. That's why they are better at adapting technology invented elsewhere than at developing technology themselves.

3. Their domestic market is protected from foreign competition, so their corporations will never go out of business. Their people pay outrageous prices for anything from rice to electronics, but their technology companies always have that safe domestic haven. Other countries' technology companies don't have that.

Answer 6

Hardly any Nobel laureates in the sciences? Don't be kidding.
Japan is the best Nobel laureates from Asia, even it had been said there were racial discrimination against yellow race among the Nobel selection committee in 20th century.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b0/NobelPrizesChart.001.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_laureates_by_country

And as for Nobel laureates in the science field, Japan 9 persons, China 3, India 3, Taiwan 1 and Pakistani 1 from Asia.

Don't insult other nations without any proof.
And western nations can continue improve their technology. But why they stop or don't?
And the country which protect domestic industry is not only Japan. US is as well.
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The budget for military is 2nd in Asia and 6th in the world. Huge enough, even though they are not allowed to do preemptive attack by constitution.

Answer 7

Because they have a lot of really smart engineers and scientist working on new technology. And, japan is like the testing grounds for new stuff.

Answer 8

Japan is a country of limited natural resources, so to retain an economy that is able to function in our world, Japan keeps ahead in technology. Tech is stressed and appreciated better in Japan.

Answer 9

Because they stress math and science education much more than America. The schools in Japan teach children more math and science earlier than here in the US. Also, discipline and study skills are stressed early on, and high schools in Japan are very intensive and thorough. On average I believe high schoolers in Japan work much harder than their counterparts here in the US. Also in Japan teamwork is stressed a lot more and so is attention to detail. For example, the cars that are produced in Japan have are all very precisely built because they try to reduce variations in the building process and thus reduce mistakes.

Answer 10

According to my husband, Japan has the highest density of intelligent people in the entire world.

Answer 11

It doesn't hurt that for the last 60 years, their defense budget has been practically non-existent and that the United States provides security for the country.

Without the cost of an unsubsidized Army, Navy, and Air Force to contend with, the Japanese government has plenty of money to spend in promoting a friendly climate for businesss,adventureism.