Japanese downsizing continues. The economy shrank 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, five times the level initially estimated. The stock market’s capitalisation has almost halved since the end of last year. And the universe of listed blue chips has contracted for the first time in four decades: as of Tuesday, there are 16 fewer companies than there were a year ago.

This is perhaps unsurprising. While private equity never made much headway in Japan, there have been a handful of buy-outs to add to a flurry of consolidation. Almost half the 78 companies de-listed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange this year became wholly owned subsidiaries, usually of their parents. Corporate collapses claimed another dozen or so, and multinationals are giving up on secondary listings overseas. Similar trends are in evidence elsewhere: the London Stock Exchange, for example, was down 42 companies at the end of October from the end of last year. But in Japan de-listing is more than just an ugly word. Such is the prestige of a TSE listing that some landlords will only sign tenancy agreements with employees of quoted companies.