ELDERLY MAKE UP NEARLY A THIRD OF ENTREPRENEURS

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 eight per cent three decades earlier. The self-employed seniors tend to provide management consulting and other services, the agency said in a report. The bad news: The total number of small and medium-sized enter- prises and micro-businesses in Japan has fallen steadily in recent years, according to the agency. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office vowing to transform the country into an “entrepreneurial powerhouse,” but people are growing more afraid of risk. That is especially true of the young, who came of age during Japan’s long economic stagnation. Those in their 30s or younger accounted for 36 per cent of new entrepreneurs in 2012, the enterprise agency’s data showed, down from 57 per cent three decades earlier.