The short answer is process orientedness, discipline for everything and teamwork. I have worked in a few countries in APAC and Europe before settling down in Ja

The short answer is process orientedness, discipline for everything and teamwork. I have worked in a few countries in APAC and Europe before settling down in Japan, and I would say that they would sacrifice time to market and profit margins by devoting so much efforts on quality. All these above points contributed to Japan's great economic performance in the past. However, Japan always lacked in being competitive on global stage in software. Especially in this startup era where time to market and MVP are very important. Lack of English language skills and workforce diversities have been two other roadblocks. do check this link - https://www.employmentjapan.com/tech-corner/startups-ecosystem-in-japan-compared-to-other-countries/ https://www.employmentjapan.com/tech-corner/startups-ecosyst... which mentions some of the main reason that Japan has been lagging behind on startups scene. Things are changing now and many progressive tech companies started realizing the importance of change - however, the traditions are so deeply tooted in the business scene that changes are slow.