968K views · Aug 18, 2024 · 19:37 · 2 HN recommenders · 4 mentions · discussed 2024–2026
Asianometry examines why Japan's software industry has lagged despite its hardware strengths. It looks at dependence on US software and the low prestige of programming.
Why Hacker News points people here: Recommended as a good explanation of Japanese software industry struggles, though one commenter is unsure of its accuracy.
“There's fantastic video in this from Asianometry”HN comment, 2026
“Asianometry has a good one on this.”
Japan depends on US software; programming is low prestige
this video Asianometry has a good one on this. They’ve become dependent on US software (and hardware), and programming is considered a low prestige job.
“There's fantastic video in this from Asianometry”
Explains struggles of Japanese software industry
Japanese software and software technology culture is amongst the worst in the world. They're famous for failing to adopt modern ways of working, tools and as an industry is seriously struggling. There's fantastic video in this from Asianometry: this video
Japan's software industry has declined
At least Italy is still interesting when it comes to software development. Unlike Japan which had a good start but it is not that good anymore ( this video )
“not sure how accurate this one is”
Look at Japanese software development, accuracy uncertain
Perhaps a look at Japanese software development will give an interesting look into the subject, not sure how accurate this one is this video Then there is politics and a controversial one is mentioned here. ''US spy agencies began recruiting former fascists and Nazi collaborators. US officials freed Class A Japanese war criminals from prison, some of whom went on to lead the government in Tokyo.Many of these figures were involved in founding the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has essentially run Japan as a one-party state since 1955 (excluding a mere five years of opposition rule).A textbook example of this was Nobusuke Kishi, a notorious war criminal who ran the Japanese empire’s Manchukuo puppet regime and oversaw genocidal atrocities in collaboration with the Nazis. He was briefly imprisoned, but later pardoned by US authorities and, with Washington’s support, rose to become prime minister of Japan in the 1950s.Kishi’s fascist-linked family still commands significant control over Japanese politics. His grandson, Shinzo Abe, was the longest-serving prime minister in the East Asian nation’s history. link
