Is Japan an intellectual country ?

[Tiger]

Japan has long been known for taking other people's ideas and making them better.

Once, Japanese cars were laughed at. Now they are the most reliable in the world. While Japan may not have invented the television, the VCR, the CD player etc... you might ask yourself this. If these products were invented elsewhere, why do the majority of people own a Japanese designed version now?

Tiger

[Toru Ranryu]

Already in the original post Maciamo admits that Japanese are good at engineering. This is further supported by the study he points to in his more recent post #23, which indicates that a higher percentage of young people study engineering in Japan than in any other country included in the study. So, what exactly is the difference between "inventive science" and "engineering"?

Maciamo claims that since inventions such as cars, trains, telephones and television where not made in Japan, Japanese people are not good at making inventions. That is ridiculous! All those inventions were made at least 80 years ago! At that time Japan was far behind the West in scientific knowledge, but that is hardly relevant when discussing Japanese inventiveness today.

Japan has long been known for taking other people's ideas and making them better.
Once, Japanese cars were laughed at. Now they are the most reliable in the world. While Japan may not have invented the television, the VCR, the CD player etc... you might ask yourself this. If these products were invented elsewhere, why do the majority of people own a Japanese designed version now?

Actually, Japan did invent the CD player, and they made the first commercial videocassette recorder.