I think the author does a good job of picking out what has caused Japan to fall behind - not moving away from manufacturing, but didn't pick out the why so much. Yes the DJP is stupidly risk averse despite coming into office on the message of change, yes Japan has been slow to take advantage of the value of their culture, but there are deeper reasons.
One that sticks out to me is the use of IT and software in daily life. When I was a student here in Japan back in 2004, I had to enrol by filling out a form using pen to paper. My Australian university was already doing everything online without a hitch. If I want to organise a monthly cash transfer to pay for a gym membership, I have to fill out a paper form and stamp it to allow for the gym to take money out of my account. Again, back in Australia I can set up a monthly payment using Internet banking, or just get them to charge my credit card. In other words, in the field of applying IT to everyday life, I believe Japan is lagging other countries badly - and I feel that the main reason for this is that PCs did not spread as widely here as they did in Australia. I would guess that most people here primarily access the Internet using their mobile phone.
One that sticks out to me is the use of IT and software in daily life. When I was a student here in Japan back in 2004, I had to enrol by filling out a form using pen to paper. My Australian university was already doing everything online without a hitch. If I want to organise a monthly cash transfer to pay for a gym membership, I have to fill out a paper form and stamp it to allow for the gym to take money out of my account. Again, back in Australia I can set up a monthly payment using Internet banking, or just get them to charge my credit card. In other words, in the field of applying IT to everyday life, I believe Japan is lagging other countries badly - and I feel that the main reason for this is that PCs did not spread as widely here as they did in Australia. I would guess that most people here primarily access the Internet using their mobile phone.