Japan corporate bankruptcies up most in eight years in 2008

Japan's corporate bankruptcies rose the most in eight years in 2008 as a deepening recession weakened sales and made it harder for businesses to get funds.

Bankruptcies climbed 11 percent from a year earlier to 15,646 cases last year, the fastest pace since 2000, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd said in Tokyo today. A total of 33 publicly traded companies went out of business in 2008, the most in the postwar period, the report said.

Japanese companies have struggled to find investors willing to purchase their debt since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc in September. Larger businesses are resorting to borrowing directly from banks, squeezing smaller companies out of the market for loans, said Junko Nishioka.