Japan has more than 50,000 businesses that are more than 100 years old, and 3,886 of them have existed for more than 200 years, according to
a report in
The Atlantic.
But in the past decade, some of the country's oldest businesses have closed, the report noted. In January, 465-year-old seafood seller Minoya Kichibee filed for bankruptcy, and in 2014, 533-year-old confectioner Surugaya also went bankrupt, the article said. In 2007, Buddhist temple builder Kongo Gumi — once the world's oldest family company — was absorbed by a larger company,
The Atlantic
report noted.
The article explained that the reason why Japan has so many old companies was that although businesses were traditionally bequeathed to eldest sons, business owners could adopt a son (who would generally marry into the family) if no capable natural-born son was available. A 2011 study found that 98% of adoptees in Japan were 25- to 30-year-old men,
The Atlantic
report noted.
What has changed recently is that the Japanese government passed a bankruptcy law in 2000 and revised corporate liquidation laws in 2004. Ulrike Schaede, a professor of Japanese business at the University of California, San Diego, told
The Atlantic
that poorly performing Japanese companies don't receive help from lenders without a solid reorganization plan.
In addition, Millennial-generation Japanese citizens are less interested in traditional Japanese culture (the business of many of the oldest firms), and the country is beginning to rethink its views on marriage, adoption and inheritance, the report noted. (Source:
The Atlantic,
Feb. 12, 2015.)
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