To me it seems like an indication of the differences in software vs other engineering that the conservatism that led to Japans world class mechanical and civil

To me it seems like an indication of the differences in software vs other engineering that the conservatism that led to Japans world class mechanical and civil engineering acheivements has held back software engineering. For great cars, trains, electronics etc you can benefit from deep institutional knowledge(built by company loyalty and lifetime employment) and long product cycles. Whereas for software though there is the occasional airplane or medical device needing reliability, 99% of the time (and money) the move fast and break thing philosophy wins.