Major supermarket operator Nagasakiya Co. has just gone bankrupt, and reports say many department stores are taking heavy losses.
According to the Management and Coordination Agency, Japan's consumer spending fell by 1.2 percent in 1999 over the previous year for its seventh consecutive year of decline, showing that private consumption remains locked in its long recession.
But it is also true that there are brighter and more positive aspects of consumer behavior to be seen, especially in the information sector.