It's astonishing this comment is as heavily downvoted as it is because it hits Japan's problem at its core.
Apple and Google are dominant because Japan simply cannot do software (and tech in general). They have no domestic players, so this conclusion is natural.
Some amount of regulation might be necessary, but fundamentally Japan cannot break the US-held monopoly so long as they fail to bring their own players to market.
That's a real flaw in this argument. Japanese software is at least okay and oftentimes good in gaming UI/UX, and at the same time hopeless anywhere else.
One thing I happen to know is Japanese dev type people loves to victim blame for usability and unintended path issues. It seems omission of subjects/actors in spoken Japanese make it hard for them to comprehend issues. Japanese stoicism certainly isn't helping too.
Maybe entertainment for its own sake is technical exception, as joy, ease, addictiveness, are clear goals rather than potential excess. Or maybe there are somthing else to it. But it's certainly an interesting inconsistency.
Look, you may have had a point when the United States wasn't investigating both companies. But how can you reasonably expect someone to break into a market that is reinforced by anticompetitive practice?
You're watching the fox leave the henhouse and asking why the chickens won't hatch.
I do spend a lot of time in Japan though. A lot more then most down voters that's for sure.
For most people visiting Japan, their first interaction will be buying a a train ticket for the NEX Airport express or the Shinkansen, it's a horrendous and confusing experience. Their interactions with Japanese software will only get worse from there however.
I think most of the confusing experience comes from the way that Japanese limited express paper tickets used to work. If you rode a limited express (like Shinkansen or Narita Express), you'd have to buy two tickets: the basic fare ticket and the express surcharge ticket. The basic fare ticket would also cover your non-express connections, so this was quite convenient in Japan's complex transit system.
Japan still has that system in place, but the basic fare is usually replaced by your IC transit card or integrated into an eTicket (which contains both basic fare + express surcharge and is tied into your IC card).
So if you buy a ticket to NEX on the Ekinet app you'll be offered a ticketless option, but you probably wouldn't know that means you still need to tap your Suica in order to pay the basic fare.
Shinkansen trains are generally using eTickets, which would be even more confusing for visitors, but many visitors are using JR Pass which is completely outside the fare systems (but does need reserved seats).
Most of this complexity is inherent complexity, not accidental complexity that comes from bad software. The main issues I've seen with the software in question are: Lack of English version (Ekinet), Complex registration flow (SmartEX) and flaky authentication (Ekinet). This is not a great UX, but the apps don't feel worse than train operator apps in other countries. These are not tech companies.
What's so bad about Nintendo's or the Sony PlayStation's software? From my perspective they're like... almost perfect, except for the fact that there are updates sometimes, but they're fast.
What's so bad about JR's ticket vending machines? What could be improved?
Apple and Google are dominant because Japan simply cannot do software (and tech in general). They have no domestic players, so this conclusion is natural.
Some amount of regulation might be necessary, but fundamentally Japan cannot break the US-held monopoly so long as they fail to bring their own players to market.