People have been saying Japan is going to fail for a little over 20 years now, and honestly, it feels like some of it is becoming a reality

By "failing" here, I don't mean Japan will drop to the level of a developing nation (I don't think that will happen even by the time I die of old age)
But compared to its heyday, or even just the 90s and 00s, it has declined significantly.
Back in the 90s, if someone had said Samsung would beat Sony, everyone would have told them to stop talking nonsense.
(To exaggerate a bit, it's like the feeling you'd get if someone said the KBO would beat the MLB right now? I am exaggerating a little, though...)
Now, their GDP per capita has fallen behind Taiwan, and looking at the current trend, there's even a worry they might fall behind several Eastern European countries)