Is Japan on the edge of a cliff??

This year, two Japanese people won the Noble Prize in Chemistry. Immediately after the news was announced, it caught public attention and the two winners earned enthusiastic applause in Japan. However, a few days later, the happy news was overwhelmed by the announcement that Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize. The recent political conflict over an island between China and Japan made a lot of Japanese people focus on China, so his winning inevitably drew considerable public attention.

Anyway, when the two elderly chemists were asked for a comment on receiving the prize, both of them expressed concern about the current situation in Japan, saying that young people have become less interested in the persistent research which usually takes a long time to be appreciated. 

Recently, I happened to see a TV show which talked about small companies struggling to survive by sticking with made-in-Japan products. Some small factories are taking advantage of their highly sophisticated original techniques and have successfully developed an overseas market. Although they are doing well now, most of their skilled workmen who are supporting the techniques are old. These companies have difficulty passing their techniques to younger generations.

A tiny children's clothing manufacturer in Okayama/岡山 is enjoying good sales. Under the circumstance where almost all of the clothing manufacturers have relocated their production bases to China to cut down the labor cost, the company sticks with made-in-Japan clothing which can be competitive with made-in China ones. It has succeeded in cutting down labor costs while keeping high quality by taking advantage of elderly skilled housewives who used to sew clothing on sewing machines in factories until those were relocated to China. As far as I saw in the show, their skills were impressive. They proudly said in the show that they were confident in sewing.

These episodes show that skilled workmen who supported the high growth of the Japanese economy in the past are old and there are few Japanese people who can take over their skills. I understand that skills require change as the times and the situation of Japan change. However, I feel like Japan is losing something important.