According to Tokyo Shoko Research Limited, 1,318 companies with liabilities of more than JPY 10 million each declared bankruptcy in February 2009. The figure for February topped the 1,300 mark for the first time in 6 years.

The figure was 10.4% YoY higher than the same month a year ago and marked the ninth consecutive month of YoY increases in bankruptcies. Debts for February totaled JPY 1.229 trillion, the third highest seen for the same month since World War II.

Tokyo Shoko Research Limited added that the February figure brought bankruptcies so far in fiscal 2008, which ends March 31st 2009 to 14,609.

(Sourced from www.asahi.com)