>an introverted national culture that encourages the various companies fight each other (eg: Toshiba vs. Sony vs. Panasonic) rather than stand together and face

>an introverted national culture that encourages the various companies fight each other (eg: Toshiba vs. Sony vs. Panasonic) rather than stand together and face the global market Huh? Since when do American companies like Google and Apple stand together instead of fighting with each other? Are we in the same universe? Competing companies don't stand together in any capitalistic society I'm aware of. >Japanese people are very talented, but that also means they oftentimes can't understand the value of inventions and technology. As another comment pointed out, the exact same thing has happened many, many times at American companies: Xerox PARC and the GUI are the poster child here. >Also, I'm Japanese. I call dibs when it comes to (justifiably!) trash talking my heritage. I'm an American living in Japan. I've noticed that it's very common for Japanese people to think that something about their country or culture (especially negative things) is unique to Japan, when in fact it's much the same in countries and cultures all around the world. A common example is how many really seem to think Japan is the only place in the world with 4 seasons (!), but there are many other more substantive things.