Prolog is from the early 1970s.
The "problem" with Japan's approach was that it was top-down, being driven by a committee of bureaucrats. Unlike the Toyota approach (continual improvement and pushing decisions to the lowest level possible), this fossilized decisions (like picking Prolog instead of any other possibly better programming language).
To give an idea of how intransigent some Japanese bureaucracies can be:
> It's taken until 2024, but Japan has finally said goodbye to floppy disks.
> Up until last month, people were still asked to submit documents to the government using the outdated storage devices, with more than 1,000 regulations requiring their use.
> Sony, the last manufacturer of the disks, ended its production in 2011.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx82407j1v3o
The "problem" with Japan's approach was that it was top-down, being driven by a committee of bureaucrats. Unlike the Toyota approach (continual improvement and pushing decisions to the lowest level possible), this fossilized decisions (like picking Prolog instead of any other possibly better programming language).
To give an idea of how intransigent some Japanese bureaucracies can be:
> It's taken until 2024, but Japan has finally said goodbye to floppy disks.
> Up until last month, people were still asked to submit documents to the government using the outdated storage devices, with more than 1,000 regulations requiring their use.
> Sony, the last manufacturer of the disks, ended its production in 2011.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx82407j1v3o