Japan's private business reputation survey agency Tokyo Business and Industry Survey released on July 10, the results of a survey showed that in the first half of 2023, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan went bankrupt increased by 30% compared to the same period last year. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that this is the first time since 2020 that more than 4,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan have gone bankrupt in a six-month period. During the Shinkansen epidemic, many companies were able to survive the three-year epidemic with financial support from the Japanese government, but today Japanese SMEs need to endure the test of continuing to operate in an environment of understaffing and high prices.

　　Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry survey data show that: the first half of this year, Japan's small and medium-sized enterprise bankruptcy number of 4,042 cases. From the industry point of view, affected by the continued high cost of raw materials, the construction industry, the number of bankruptcies increased by 36% year-on-year, 785; by the depreciation of the yen led to the impact of rising import costs, the number of bankruptcies in the manufacturing industry increased by 37% year-on-year, 459. In addition, the number of bankruptcies in the retail sector rose 25% year-on-year to 434 due to higher fuel costs.

　　According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the common difficulties encountered by these insolvent enterprises were staff shortages and high prices. Against the backdrop of Japan's gradual economic recovery, labor shortages are getting worse and it is difficult to recruit people even if wages are raised. The most typical industry affected is the restaurant industry, the number of enterprises in this industry closed down in the first half of this year increased by 79% year-on-year to 424, a record high.

　　In an interview with the NHK website, Toshi Fujii, Director of the Information and Coordination Department of the Imperial Data Bank of Japan, analyzed the successive closures and bankruptcies of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises in the "post-epidemic" era, saying, "For many small and medium-sized enterprises, they could have improved their cash flow situation by taking out loans, but the prices of goods and raw material costs have risen. However, factors such as high prices and raw material costs have strained the financial chains of many companies, and the number of cases in which they are unable to repay their loans is increasing. As long as the problem of rising raw material prices and manpower shortage is not solved, more enterprises will close down and go bankrupt in the future."