Japan ranks 10th in the world on the Human Development Index (HDI), an annual report from the U.N. Development Program that uses three main factors, health, knowledge and standard of living. Tenth would be a laudable position except that Japan's ranking is buoyed by one single factor, the longevity of its citizens. In the two other factors, knowledge and standard of living, Japan ranks much lower and is in decline.
Overall, Japan has stagnated. The country's HDI has risen a negligible 0.29 percent over the last 30 years. In 1980 and 1990, Japan was fifth in the world. What that means is that Japan has become less capable of turning its gross domestic product into improved standards of living and better education.
On the other side of the cycle, the education and income that many Japanese have obtained has not translated into an overall better standard of living. In other words, the interaction between economic level and human development in Japan remains inefficient and static.