@HellifIknow Military? Is that even a fair comparisons, cuz I would say not due to the U.S. demilitarization and occupation of Japan after the Second World War. Even with the JSDF, the military is hardly a focus for them like it is for us, and for good reason. Really, we allocate way too much into defense.
On the other hand, in other areas such as infrastructure, they’re far more advanced than America. Post-WWII, the Japanese economy was in shambles, therefore, the government made sound decisions to 1. Rebuild and industrialize 2. Construct public transportation and infrastructure that can be readily used by the Japanese people e.g. Shinkansen and JR system in order to bolster their future growth, as opposed to the thriving U.S. postwar economy, causing higher disposable incomes, so more Americans would end up buying cars leading to our reliance on them and terrible infrastructure. Not only that, they have universal healthcare and probably a much better education system (common core is quite literally garbage). The industry says they’re two years ahead of us in fashion, and I’m sure there’s other places where they got us beat.
However a lot technological advancement occurs in America with the onset of the brain drain and all.