Technically, Nepal was not different from Japan

Picture used from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:RICE_POLISHING_BY_FOOT_POWER.jpg

Look at these two pictures. These pictures are about removing husk of rice. It shows that Nepal (lower picture) and Japan (upper picture) had similar technologies in past. However, at present, Japan reached top on technological development and Nepal remained same. Still today, husk removing is done with the same technology in Nepal.

Picture used from: http://www.shieldsaroundtheworld.com/pichtml/p0004735.html