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Elderly Make Up Nearly a Third of Japan's New Entrepreneurs
Young Japanese grow more reluctant to strike out on their own
Elderly people buy vegetables at Honcho market in Niigata City, Japan.
Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
As Japan's entrepreneurial spirit fades, the elderly make up a rising share of people going into business for themselves.
About a third of new entrepreneurs were 60 or older in 2012, the latest year for which data was available, according to the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, a part of the trade ministry. That compares with 8 percent three decades earlier.