With that said, business in Japan is quite difficult if you're not Japanese, though that's starting to change in recent years. Some say their startup ecosystem is 10 years behind that of the US.
Can you elaborate on how it's a good, or neutral, thing? Startups may be imperfect creatures, but I perceive them to have a net-positive influence on the economy (and, to be clear, I don't work for one). How is their absence from the Japanese economy a good thing?
The 10 year comment was from a discussion I had with a Japanese investor/entrepreneur while in Tokyo last fall. He built his other businesses in the US, and related the current state of Japan's startup scene (funding, opportunities, etc) as being similar to that of the US about 10 years ago.