Lost decade or not, it is impossible to do a startup in Japan. We tried a few months ago, with 2 Japanese classmates. Even though they both spent significant time in the US, they could not say "no" and would not take any risks. If in doubt, be conservative was their mantra. Releasing a mobile app for a conference, we just needed to list the names and companies of people attending, no contact info. It was in the spec from the beginning. At the last second, someone got scared that someone might object, and although there was no evidence, they refused. So we couldn't test the app and we ended up abandoning. There is so much fear among the young.
Debate the macro economics all you want, but there is no doubt this generation is already lost.
I have also been somewhat worried about the "safety first" approach that a lot of the Japanese young take around here.
I have been in Tokyo just for some months, but I truly believe that things could be infinitely better if I only these guys could find the proper motivation.
Debate the macro economics all you want, but there is no doubt this generation is already lost.