It didn't hold back their society, what was held back was the competition because Japanese is hard and the locals have all the business and flourished. That's my view on why they were successful compared to other Asian nations who adapted English early on their history.
The stereotype of Japan as technologically advanced persists in the West despite abundant evidence to the contrary.
Japan still uses floppy disks and fax machines. They prefer to pay in cash and will go to the bank to get crisp, fresh notes - to give old notes would be disrespectful. Banking in Japan - indeed, experience with any kind of bureaucracy at all there - makes the US DMV, or indeed any Western bureaucracy, look like the vanguard of efficiency.
Train tickets are the easiest thing to buy in Japan phone app, vending machine you name it. The train attendant even sells you ticket if you get on board without paying.
