Data released on the 28th by the Tokyo Shoko Research, an institution for corporate credit surveys in Japan, shows that in the first 11 months of this year, a total of 9,164 companies went bankrupt, with the annual number of bankruptcies expected to exceed 0.01 million, setting a new record high in 11 years. The data indicates that in the first three quarters of this year, the number of bankrupt companies in Japan was 2,319, 2,612, and 2,483, respectively, representing increases of 18.5%, 25.2%, and 10.9% compared to the same period last year. In the first two months of the fourth quarter, the number of bankrupt companies in the country was 1,750. In the first 11 months, the cumulative number of bankrupt companies nationwide was 9,164, an increase of 16.2% compared to the same period last year, with total liabilities approaching 2.15 trillion yen (approximately 158 yen to 1 dollar). (Xinhua News Agency)