HackerTube
HomeLongsLikedHistoryWatch laterCategoriesPlaylistsSettings

Why is Japan So Weak in Software?

Asianometry2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2024-2026
YouTube
968K views · 2 years ago · explainer · evergreen

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.

Recommended as a good explanation of Japanese software industry struggles, though one commenter is unsure of its accuracy.

Tech industry & business modelsHistory of computing#japan#softwareindustry#techhistory#asianometry#economics

4 comments from Hacker News

@smcleod2026 · in “KOReader”

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

RecommendsView on HN
@ambyra2024 · in “A mistake that killed Japan's software industry? (2023)”

▶ 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.

RecommendsView on HN
@erie2024 · in “Japan was the future but it's stuck in the past (2023)”

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

CitesView on HN
@begueradj2024 · in “Olivetti Programma 101: At the Origins of the Personal Computer”

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 )

CitesView on HN
How Japan Learned Semiconductors17:49

How Japan Learned Semiconductors

Asianometry
228K views • 4 years ago
Why the Soviet Computer Failed18:57

Why the Soviet Computer Failed

Asianometry
4.2M views • 4 years ago
What Eating the Rich Did For Japan18:08

What Eating the Rich Did For Japan

Asianometry
2.8M views • 5 years ago
The Death of Affordable Computing | Tariffs Impact & Investigation2:58:24

The Death of Affordable Computing | Tariffs Impact & Investigation

Gamers Nexus
2.3M views • 1 year ago
China's Bonkers Bike-share Bubble50:42

China's Bonkers Bike-share Bubble

Asianometry
365K views • 10 months ago
India's Semiconductor Failure17:13

India's Semiconductor Failure

Asianometry
1.6M views • 5 years ago
Preventing the Collapse of Civilization / Jonathan Blow (Thekla, Inc)1:02:42

Preventing the Collapse of Civilization / Jonathan Blow (Thekla, Inc)

DevGAMM
315K views • 7 years ago
Why Sony's Beta Videotape System Failed--and failed hard (Part 1)16:29

Why Sony's Beta Videotape System Failed--and failed hard (Part 1)

Technology Connections
1.5M views • 9 years ago
why Japan's internet is weirdly designed15:15

why Japan's internet is weirdly designed

Answer in Progress
5.2M views • 3 years ago
COLLAPSE of Personal Computing | Investigation Into the Destruction of Ownership3:28:54

COLLAPSE of Personal Computing | Investigation Into the Destruction of Ownership

Gamers Nexus
3.2M views • 5 months ago
Birth of The Transistor: A video history of Japan's electronic industry. (Part 1)40:43

Birth of The Transistor: A video history of Japan's electronic industry. (Part 1)

RC286
1.2M views • 12 years ago
"Performance (Really) Matters" with Emery Berger1:04:48

"Performance (Really) Matters" with Emery Berger

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
7K views • 6 years ago
Why Western Designs Fail in Developing Countries27:36

Why Western Designs Fail in Developing Countries

Design Theory
1.8M views • 2 years ago
steve jobs on why xerox failed2:55

steve jobs on why xerox failed

Kumar Saurav
30K views • 10 years ago
Casey Muratori – The Big OOPs: Anatomy of a Thirty-five-year Mistake – BSC 20252:27:34

Casey Muratori – The Big OOPs: Anatomy of a Thirty-five-year Mistake – BSC 2025

Better Software Conference
926K views • 1 year ago
Computers for Cynics 2 - It All Went Wrong at Xerox PARC14:02

Computers for Cynics 2 - It All Went Wrong at Xerox PARC

TheTedNelson
23K views • 14 years ago
Why Japan had NO Chance in WW213:38

Why Japan had NO Chance in WW2

Military History Visualized
835K views • 7 years ago
Bret Victor   The Future of Programming32:56

Bret Victor The Future of Programming

Joey Reid
305K views • 13 years ago
How an Average Family in Tokyo Can Buy a New Home11:57

How an Average Family in Tokyo Can Buy a New Home

Life Where I'm From
4.2M views • 9 years ago
Where Does Bad Code Come From?42:21

Where Does Bad Code Come From?

Molly Rocket
282K views • 5 years ago