I don’t see the Japanese as the go-getters that China is today. Japanese seem tired of life. Chinese dream of greater things.
Problem is complacency. While China certainly doesn’t have the level of complacency like an India, it still exists to some extent when it comes to risk-taking. This must be excised so China can unleash the full potential of its creative citizens.
Now I don’t know the full history of Japanese economic growth, but it seems to me that they grew a lot faster at this stage and I don’t know that it just had to do with being an American vassal or having a smaller population. I’d rather play devils advocate and assume it’s not true so China can be self-critical and seek to improve at all costs.
As for Japanese innovation, it’s been nuked. You might be able to say that in the 70s and 80s but where is Japanese innovation now?
If you look up labor productivity adjusting for working hours then Japanese productivity is lower than Italy and Spain and is actually at the level of Turkey (!!). Korea is at the level of Portugal. That isn’t good.
I’m really unsure of the explanation other than lack of risk-taking, attempts to be creative, etc. don’t want China to fall into the same trap.