This was a fascinating reply to read with an outside perspective. Thank you for your comment.

> It's questionable whether any of the globally well know names will remain operational in their prior fields of production over the next 50 to 100 years without a significant shift in developing a way to build direct connections to capacity and applied skills at every tier of each company.

With this, is it your contention that the demographic problem in Japan is so existential that even large established companies may quite literally "die out" because there is nobody left that knows how to operate them?

How does that square with increasing foreign investment? Does it seem like there may be a shift towards foreign control of these large companies via equities markets instead? (Ala US style PE / zombie brands)

> Taken to an 'in extremis' view: Within another 60 to 80 years, this might result in a well funded country of the elderly being waited on by robot butlers with until there is no one left to be waited on or fed the produce grown in automated fields.

It does seem that way, but it seems at odd with the cultural values espoused in the media. Do those at the top not feel any social obligation to ensure continuation of Japanese society beyond serving their own selfish needs?