The number of corporate bankruptcies last month declined 5.0 percent from a year earlier to 1,026, a credit research agency said Wednesday.
But liabilities left by the business failures more than tripled to ¥724.1 billion — the highest monthly figure so far this year — due largely to the sizable debts left behind by Sanko Steamship Co. and consumer credit firm Clavis Co., according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Amid vigorous reconstruction efforts, the number of corporate failures in Tohoku, the region hit hardest by the March 11 disasters and nuclear crisis, dropped for the 19th month in a row.