Originally Posted by emg
Originally Posted by PimTac
Japan is very much affected by the aging society demographic. They have less young people due to a declining birth rate. A lot of their current economy is focused on aged care.
Have you seen American demographic predictions lately? Japan is doing well in comparison: at least it will still be a first-world country in twenty years.
On the ageing front, my guess is that rejuvenation tech is one area where Japan will definitely be copying the US in the future; it's one of the few areas where US R&D still leads the world, though China make take over if the FDA doesn't relax its restrictions on testing.
Beyond that, I'm not sure what they would copy? Silicon Valley is now basically an enormous ad agency and spyware factory, Boeing jets have trouble flying, Intel is having trouble building new CPUs. The areas where the US used to lead the world have mostly rotted away over the last twenty years.
Reusable rockets, maybe?
A few areas they are devoting a lot of resources and attention;
Robots, especially humanoids.
Space and environment. JAXA has been doing some interesting stuff lately. The Hayabusa Project is going well. Energy efficiency is a key focus as it has been for years.
Transportation. The export of Japanese technology in high speed rail to other countries is expanding.
Agriculture. This is one area worth watching. Their research into film hydroponic systems is growing.