"Survived Wars and the Bubble, but Had No Successor"... 112 Century-Old Japanese Businesses Close

Bankruptcies up 24% from January to August... highest since 2007
Business struggles deepen amid a lack of successors and high prices

In Japan, 112 long-established companies that had been in business for more than 100 years went bankrupt between January and August this year. Long-established companies are businesses that have maintained a long tradition and operated across generations.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Pexels

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on October 16, data compiled by private credit research firm Teikoku Databank showed that 112 companies with more than 100 years of history went bankrupt between January and August this year.

This was a 24% increase from the same period last year and the highest figure since 2007.

Nikkei analyzed that a shortage of successors was one of the main factors driving the bankruptcies of long-established companies. Japan is facing a severe labor shortage as its low birthrate and aging population continue over the long term.

By industry, manufacturing ranked first with 34 companies, followed by wholesale with 24 and retail with 22. Of the companies that went bankrupt, 56, or half, were small businesses with less than 100 million yen (about 850 million won) in debt.

Teikoku Databank explained, "Companies are going bankrupt one after another as it becomes difficult to find people to take over family businesses across all industries, while high prices are adding to the strain." It added, "Many long-established companies are small and medium-sized businesses," and forecast that "bankruptcies among long-established companies will increase further as difficult business conditions persist."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.