Quote (Black XistenZ @ 3 Aug 2023 02:38)
Well, fears of Japan overtaking the US were always unfounded based on population size, natural resources (or lack thereof) and demographics alone. To anyone looking at it strategically and with a long-term focus, it was obvious that Japan's economic boom of the 80s was a bubble and not sustainable in the long run. With present-day China, it's not so obvious since they have 12 times the population Japan had, and also control a huge portfolio of critical natural resources. It's well possible that China is also living on borrowed time, that their real estate bubble will burst and their population will grow old before it becomes rich - but they at least have the potential to overtake the U.S. as the leading power in the world, or to at least force a bipolar world order without a singular hegemon. Japan never actually had this potential.
I would also like to add if I may.
I agree on your take in regards to
Population and Natural resources.
But I also want to mention something that you might not have considered.
For a nation or a country to be powerful
Population and Natural resources is just part of the equation and there are other deciding factors that are more significant than those.
For Japan, these are some of her traits that will propel her if she ever get a chance to again to stand tall above most in the world stage.
These are traits that most...not all..but most countries lack or fall behind...including populous countries like China and India.
A homogeneous, orderly and extremely discipline culture and society Like Germany during WW2.... The Japanese pretty much conquered most of Asia and South East Asia in an astonishingly short period of time.
The African continent , you name it, South Africa, Nigeria have population and natural resources..
Indonesia have 250 plus million which is Rich in Resources .
India is 1.4 almost 1.5 Billion now and is also rich in Resources
They are not doing exactly well at the moment , at least not yet.
Britain doesn't exactly have resources and population either but at their peak they controlled 1/3 of the world.
Last but not least after the events of WW2 , there is around 50,000 American Troops in Japan.
To say that Japan doesn't have the potential, I would say it is rather short sighted. They can , they will but they can't because they are emasculated in a number ways at the moment.