Japan did make giant leaps... but perhaps their own success (rising wages) and failures (Sony is a shadow of its former self) got in the way. We can’t use it as a model for how it’ll work out for China, with a totally different government structure that so far has been very effective and competent.
> a totally different government structure that so far has been very effective and competent.
Authoritarian regimes can look appealing (from the outside, anyway) until circumstances change. Then they falls apart spectacularly because the commercial and governmental institutions are either absent, very weak, or are unable to adapt to the change. For example, the Soviet Union.
To me, the old Sony electronics was way ahead of anything US. Sony Beta/Betacam, cameras, etc. Also JVC's VHS. After RCA or Ampex, the US had really been left behind in the video/TV forefront.
