Profitable Fukushima companies closing due to lack of successors

Japan Times

2 days ago

Many companies are shutting down in Fukushima Prefecture even though they are making a profit, due to the aging of managers who run the businesses and their failure to find successors.
Data from Teikoku Databank's Fukushima branch shows that out of the 871 firms in the prefecture which discontinued, suspended or dissolved their business last year, 34.9% were in the black.
They had to close down because they could not find a way to proceed with business succession smoothly.
Experts warn that such business closures are likely to increase in the future amid labor shortage caused by the aging of society and a declining birth rate.
They call for more effective measures to tackle the situation, as it could lead to a decline of the regional economy.
Reflecting companies' struggles to find successors, the number of inquiries made to a business succession support center, set up in the prefecture by the central government, has been rising every year, reaching 1,156 in fiscal 2023, the latest available data.
However, it has not always been easy for people looking for successors and those wishing to take over their businesses to reach agreement, because of mismatches in conditions or career interests.
Meanwhile, there have been cases across the country in which companies in metropolitan areas purchase firms in regional areas, then abandon the management at the regional firm and become unreachable, indicating uncertainties in business successions involving wider areas.
'It is important for proprietors themselves to look for potential successors from their immediate surroundings, including their clients,' said an official from Teikoku Databank.
The aging of business owners in Fukushima Prefecture is also becoming a bigger problem.
According to a 2023 Teikoku Databank survey, the average age of company presidents in the prefecture was 61.3 years old, hitting a record high and topping the nationwide average of 60.7 years old.
More than 80% of business owners in Fukushima Prefecture were 50 years old or older, and 4.8% were 80 or older.
A nationwide survey conducted last year found that 316 firms in Japan went bankrupt because their owners fell ill or died.
A Teikoku Databank official pointed to the need to take prompt action to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.
Kimihiro Matsuzaki, 79, the owner of Yanagi, a Japanese restaurant located in front of Iwaki Station in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, is one such person looking for someone to take over their business.
The restaurant has been in the black, attracting a lot of customers, but Matsuzaki decided to retire this summer due to his advanced age.
He is looking for a person who will take over the business, which he has run for half a century since 1974.
'I desperately want someone to continue what I have achieved,' he said.
His specialty dishes using fish caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, including bonito sashimi and anglerfish hot pot, are listed on the restaurant's menu.
'My happiest moment is when I see my customers leave with smiles,' Matsuzaki said.
He looks serious when he cooks food, but seeing people cheerfully enjoying his dishes makes him smile at times.
Matsuzaki opened his restaurant in Iwaki at the age of 29 after five years of training as a chef. His eatery and his friendliness have been appreciated by many people.
'There were tough days, especially at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident, but I didn't want to quit as customers continued to come," he said.
As he is nearly 80, however, he feels that his physical strength is nearing its limit.
If he can find a successor, he is willing to sell his restaurant at an affordable price.
He hopes the successor will also inherit the name of the restaurant, meaning "willow" in Japanese, as he took the name after willow branches that can weather storms, being able to bend instead of break.
"People visit Iwaki and enjoy the food. I don't want such places to disappear."
This section features topics and issues covered by the Fukushima Minpo, the prefecture's largest newspaper. The original article was published May 9.