Bankruptcy Filings Rose in 40 Prefectures in 2025; Highest per 100,000 Residents in Osaka, Miyazaki and HokkaidoRequests to courts for help with unpayable debts rose in most prefectures
According to the Supreme Court's 2025 (Reiwa 7) Annual Report of Judicial Statistics, district courts nationwide newly received 92,059 bankruptcy cases (individuals and corporations combined), up 8.2% from 85,115 the year before. By prefecture (by district court; Hokkaido is the total of its four district courts), 40 of 47 prefectures saw an increase, and the highest rates per 100,000 residents were Osaka (99.3), Miyazaki (98.5) and Hokkaido (97.8), against a national figure of 73.0.
Key points
- Tokyo had the most cases (11,941), followed by Osaka (8,775), Kanagawa (6,301), Hokkaido (5,112) and Aichi (4,831). Populous prefectures top the list
- Per 100,000 residents: Osaka 99.3, Miyazaki 98.5, Hokkaido 97.8, Miyagi 94.1, Fukuoka 91.2. The lowest were Toyama (43.2), Ishikawa (44.3) and Gifu (52.6)
- Largest year-on-year increases: Kagoshima (+20.3%), Niigata (+18.9%), Nagano (+18.6%), Wakayama (+18.3%) and Miyagi (+14.2%). Forty of 47 prefectures rose and 7 fell
- Notable decreases: Nagasaki (−7.2%), Yamaguchi (−5.6%), Shiga (−5.3%), Ishikawa (−4.4%) and Shimane (−3.3%)
- The by-court table does not split individuals and corporations. The national split (83,255 individuals; 8,804 corporations and others) appears in a separate table
What to do in practice
- Treat the location of your counterparties as one factor when reviewing credit (counts depend on population size, so read them together with the per-capita figure)
- If there is a counterparty whose payments may become difficult to collect, consult a professional (lawyer, tax accountant, etc.) early
"Bankruptcy" is a procedure in which a person or company that can no longer repay debts asks a court to sort them out. In 2025 there were 92,059 cases nationwide, and 40 of the 47 prefectures had more than the year before. Relative to population, Osaka, Miyazaki and Hokkaido were highest.
Points
- Tokyo had the most cases, 11,941. Places where many people live tend to have more cases
- Per 100,000 residents (about the population of a small town), Osaka was highest at 99.3, followed by Miyazaki and Hokkaido
- The national average is 73.0 per 100,000. Toyama, at 43.2, was the lowest
What the words mean
- Bankruptcy
- A procedure in which someone who cannot repay borrowed money asks a court to sort out the debt they cannot pay
- Per 100,000 people
- The number of cases converted to a population of 100,000, so that areas of different sizes can be compared
- Supreme Court of Japan: Supreme Court of Japan: Annual Report of Judicial Statistics 2025, Civil and Administrative Cases (Table 4, by district court)
- Supreme Court of Japan: Supreme Court of Japan: Annual Report of Judicial Statistics 2024, Civil and Administrative Cases (same table)
- Supreme Court of Japan: Statistics Bureau of Japan: 2020 Population Census, Basic Complete Tabulation, Outline of Results (population by prefecture)
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