A thread on 5ch’s “Nanademo Jikkyou G” board took up the wave of bankruptcies and closures hitting small and medium-sized businesses, family-run restaurants, and small factories. Posters pointed out that many of these closures stem from a lack of successors, and that consolidation is accelerating in industries like trucking. The thread split between those arguing “companies that can’t raise wages should be weeded out” and “Japan can move forward if they fail,” and those warning that “in rural areas, small businesses are basically essential infrastructure, so the damage hits residents too.” The debate eventually spiraled into a wider argument over labor productivity and wage disparity.
Uh, the big companies are the ones in financial trouble though…
Who cares, that's fine.
It's less 'going bankrupt' and more 'closing up shop' — there's just no one to take over.
Exactly this. Zombie companies should be weeded out.
If anything, people have been saying all along that policies designed to kill off small businesses have been steadily pushed through.
Nah, having companies that can't even pay decent wages is the real damage. Japan can move forward if they fail.
I think this is the biggest reason they can't raise wages.
The reason there's no successor is that the business isn't needed anymore.
The 'labor shortage' is a lie to begin with. Japan hasn't had an actual labor shortage in over 20 years.
Korea's per-capita GDP is way higher than Japan's, you know. Well, Koreans are talented, I'll give them that.
If you prioritize the nation as a whole, the Korean model works fine, but it means giving up individual prosperity. Looked at that way, Japan is still a country that's kind to everyone. Korea is tough on individuals but efficient as a country.
By the real metric — GDP per working-age person — Japan is way ahead lol
In the end, if you're not a small business with that kind of leverage, you're doomed.
Korea is tough on individuals? No basis for that.
Japan is far tougher on individuals — look at the reality of small businesses exploiting their workers.
After going through a brutal exam-war, the gap in working conditions and pay for the 90%+ who don't land a job at a major company is even wider than in Japan.
The moment you've got a ton of people who can't work, the country's already done for. Can't you understand what real wealth is?
Don't need excuses like that anymore. At the end of the day, it's still a country full of poor people, no matter how you slice it.
It's not an excuse. If a country's GDP per working-age person is low, the question becomes: why is productivity low even when you look only at the working-age population? In other words, the working generation's productivity isn't actually as high as people claim.
If anyone can make them, then someone else will just make them, that's all.
Some other company will come along and buy out that factory.
No source. And in the first place, the plain fact that per-capita GDP is higher carries more weight than anything else.
If you want a source, bring your own counter-evidence first. You're only demanding 'source, source' because you know you're the one lying.
What do you mean? Is there some reason for that?
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The shortage of successors at small and medium-sized businesses is a structural problem that Japan’s Small and Medium Enterprise Agency has flagged for years, with aging owners and stalled business succession pushing up the number of closures. In this thread too, comments like “there’s no successor” and “owners don’t want to force through capital investment” came up repeatedly, with several posters noting that “closing up shop” is a more accurate description of what’s happening than “bankruptcy.” The debate split between those who framed this weeding-out as “clearing away unprofitable businesses” and those who warned that “in rural areas, small businesses function as essential infrastructure, so the damage spreads to residents’ daily lives.” In the latter half, the discussion escalated into a back-and-forth over Japan-versus-Korea comparisons of per-capita GDP and GDP per working-age person — but which country comes out ahead depends heavily on which metric you choose, a nuance that’s easy to miss and can mislead readers if taken at face value. Note that some comments made during this comparison contained unsubstantiated, disparaging claims, and those posts have been excluded.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nanademo Jikkyou G) thread “My company looks like it’s going bankrupt — this is what’s happening all over Japan right now.”
