On the day figures were released showing Japan had slipped down another place on the list of the world’s wealthiest nations, Sumitomo Heavy Industries announced it would no longer build commercial ships.
It was an ominous day for both the country’s economy and shipbuilders, which had been one of the bedrocks of Japan’s post-war industrial success story.
It felt like the country is finally losing its old industry but is not doing a good job of moving on — at least judging by the latest GDP figures showing Japan has the fourth largest trailing behind Germany.
