Japan - January 17, 2025 Storyline: Rising prices, worsening labor shortages and depreciation of yen in Japan resulted in its business failures leading to 10,006 firms going bankrupt in 2024, crossing the 10,000 mark for the first time in 11 years, economic experts said on Friday. The yen depreciated by 10 percent in 2024, incurring widespread increases in both commodity and labor costs, placing a heavy burden on businesses. Tsuruta Daisuke, Associate Professor of Economics at Nihon University, said that the companies unable to cope with soaring prices and rising labor costs had to shut down, while the aging population posed long-term challenges. Sakata Yoshihiro, manager of the information headquarters of Tokyo Shoko Research, noted that the business environment for smaller firms was particularly harsh last year. As Japan's businesses grappled with severe challenges in 2024, Sakata predicted that the trend of rising bankruptcies will continue in 2025. Shotlist: Tokyo, Japan - Jan 17, 2025: 1. Customers in long line at supermarket; 2. Various of pedestrians, shops; 3. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Tsuruta Daisuke, Associate Professor of Economics, Nihon University (ending with shots 4-5): "A short-term factor is the rising prices. As the yen has depreciated, prices and labor costs are on the rise, companies unable to cope with these problems have to shut down. In terms of long-term factors, Japan is experiencing the impact of the aging population. In Japan, owners of small and medium-sized businesses are mostly aged over 60 years old on average, and the most common age group is even over 70 years old. Arguably aging could also lead to bankruptcy." 4. Various of closed restaurant; 5. Various of self-ordering machine, workers cooking noodles; street food stand; 6. Various of clothes, mugs on shelves; 7. Bar tender at Japanese pub; liquors; 8. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Sakata Yoshihiro, manager, information headquarters, Tokyo Shoko Research: "To some extent, large enterprises are able to transfer the costs to their sale prices, while it is hard for smaller firms to do so. They have to shoulder the cost increases on their own, which further weakens their resistance to risks." 9. Various of pedestrians crossing street 10. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Sakata Yoshihiro, manager, information headquarters, Tokyo Shoko Research (partially overlaid with shots 11-13/ending with shots 14-15): "High prices will sustain, and the trend of manpower shortage and rising labor costs also goes on. So the costs are likely to go up further as compared with 2024. The most typical example is the catering industry. Due to the depreciation of the yen, prices of ingredients have been on the rise, plus the rising costs of energy and other things, and, there is a shortage of manpower that even with higher hourly payment, it is still hard to attract enough labor. So there is the double strike of high prices and labor shortage." [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Japan - 2024: 11. Various of pedestrians; chef chopping meat, preparing barbecue; 12. Various of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers for sale; 13. Tableware; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 14. Various empty storefront, table; 15. Pedestrians walking by restaurant. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]