For much of its 72 years, Hitoshi Fujita's company was just another mom-and-pop business grinding out metal parts. Then it did something unusual for a small Japanese manufacturer: it expanded, buying two neighboring firms in the last decade.
If more small companies don't follow suit, Fujita says, the country that transformed global manufacturing in the 20th century is looking at a dim future.
Years of faltering growth and population decline have left many of Japan's small and midsize firms squeaking by on state help and almost-free funding. These companies, which account for around 7 out of 10 jobs, now face a shake-up as pandemic-era support dwindles and interest rates rise for the first time in 17 years.