Corporate bankruptcies dropped 7.5 percent in January from a year earlier to 864 for the 15th straight month of decline, a credit research agency said Monday.

The downward trend, at least in terms of number, has continued as banks have been accepting loan rescheduling requests from small firms, said Tokyo Shoko Research, which covers business failures with debts of ¥10 million or more.

The number slipped below 900 for a January for the first time in 23 years.

Due to one large failure — a real estate firm with ¥165 billion in debt — total liabilities left behind by failed firms shot up 40.3 percent to ¥315.15 billion.

Of the 10 industrial categories, seven logged declines in business failures, including the information and communications sector, which saw a 36.6 percent fall, the real estate industry, which saw an 18.4 percent drop, and the construction sector, which reported a 10.6 percent decrease.