Besides safish sequels from the big publishers I don't think Japanese gaming is creatively bankrupt. Its just that the cool new games aren't exhibiting legs in the sales charts and alot of them will never be localised. Wasn't the last two new ips that sold O K Valkyria Chronicles and Demon Souls?
Like, I don't know why we're praising Western Developers here? Is it for superficial reasons like tech? Because every other new game announced involves firearms. Just walk through a 360 section and see how many games have a gun on the box.