Economy No business successors: an era of mass closures looming

The problem is so vast that Japan faces an "era of mass closures", said Shigenobu Abe of bankruptcy research firm Teikoku Databank. A 2019 government report estimated that about 1.27 million small business owners would be 70 or older by 2025 and have no successors. The trend could kill up to 6.5 million jobs and reduce the size of the Japanese economy by 22 trillion yen, the study warned. By 2029, the situation will worsen still, as baby boomers hit 81, the average life expectancy for Japanese men, who account for most of the presidents of these firms, according to Teikoku Databank. "We know for sure that many workers will lose their livelihoods because of this," Abe told AFP. As elsewhere, small businesses in Japan are often passed down to family or trusted employees. But the country's prolonged economic stagnation has made small businesses unattractive to young people. Firms in rural areas struggle further because of a preference for city life and a growing trend of rural depopulation. Compounding the problem is a feeling among some older Japanese that selling a family business to outsiders is shameful. Some liquidate their firms rather than seeking buyers.

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