The country’s savings rate, long one of the highest in the world, is now below zero. In short, Japan’s citizens are spending more than they earn, the International New York Times reported. By comparison, the rate in the United States, where consumers have a reputation for living beyond their means, is on the rise, hitting 5.5 percent in January. The reversal is stark. For decades, many Japanese hoarded cash, a habit that took hold in the years after World War II, when government protections like unemployment insurance and public pensions were scarce. Today, Japan is in a bind.

For most of her career, Mana Nakazora has taken a pre-dawn train to work regardless of whether she arrived home just hours earlier, Bloomberg News reported. Her colleagues describe BNP Paribas SA’s Tokyo head of investment research as a powerhouse, and she was Japan’s No. 1 bond picker from 2010 to 2012 and No. 2 for the last two years in Nikkei Veritas newspaper polls. Making it to the top in an industry whose corporate bond sales exceeded $70 billion last year can be tough.

Japan's biggest airline, ANA Holdings Inc, said it was considering injecting capital into Skymark Airlines Inc as part of a rehabilitation plan for the bankrupt domestic budget carrier, Reuters reported. Besides ANA, other investors have also expressed interest in participating in a rescue package for Skymark, according to media reports and sources. Skymark holds valuable slots at Tokyo's crowded Haneda airport, making it attractive to potential investors. Skymark last month sought protection from creditors, blaming a weak yen and a dispute with jet maker Airbus Group for its financial woes.

Japanese financial services provider Orix Corp has expressed interest in participating in the reconstruction of budget airline Skymark Airlines Inc, two people familiar with the situation said. Skymark, which filed for bankruptcy last month and agreed on a sponsorship deal with Tokyo-based fund Integral, is seeking co-sponsors to help it turn around its business, Reuters reported. Thursday was the deadline for non-aviation companies to submit expressions of interest. Airlines will have until Feb. 23.

Japan’s latest recession was as short as it was unexpected, the International New York Times reported. The Japanese economy, the world’s third-largest, started expanding again at the end of 2014, government data showed Monday, after a painful midyear slump that had raised doubts about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to rekindle growth and end entrenched deflation. The latest in what seem like countless Japanese downturns — there have been six since 1997 — lasted just two quarters, the shortest technical definition of a recession.

Japan's Skymark airlines, which last week filed for bankruptcy protection, will seek other sponsors alongside investment fund Integral Corp to help turn its business around, Skymark and Integral said on Thursday. Skymark filed for protection from creditors with total liabilities of 71.09 billion yen ($605.7 million). Integral has agreed to provide 9 billion yen to help keep the business going, said Nobuo Sayama, representative director of the fund.

Japan's Skymark Airlines Inc is looking for a "business sponsor" to help it emerge from bankruptcy, a move that could eventually give control of the fiercely independent budget carrier to its rivals. Japan's biggest budget airline, which sought protection from creditors last week, said a sponsor could help it cut costs and increase revenue, according to a Jan. 28 court filing seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Japan's leading independent budget airline Skymark Airlines Inc filed for protection from creditors late on Wednesday, blaming a weak yen and a dispute with Airbus Group for its financial straits, Reuters reported. The low-cost carrier had liabilities of 71.09 billion yen ($603.6 million) as of its bankruptcy filing with the Tokyo District Court, it said in a statement via the Tokyo Stock Exchange after an emergency board meeting. Chief Executive Officer Shinichi Nishikubo resigned and was replaced by board member Masakazu Arimori, said the company, which will delist on March 1.

Governor Haruhiko Kuroda says the Bank of Japan may need to get creative in any further monetary stimulus. Among options analysts highlight: regional-government bonds, a type of security that could aid public support. Kuroda, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television Friday in Davos, Switzerland, said “there are many options and I don’t think it’s constructive to say this or that could be done.” He reiterated that if inflation expectations are “seriously” affected by disinflation, policy can be changed.

Japanese corporate bankruptcies fell in 2014 to the lowest level since the final year of Japan’s asset bubble, as a government request for banks to alter loan conditions for smaller firms helped companies stay afloat, Bloomberb News reported. Business failures slid 10.4 percent in 2014 from a year earlier to 9,731 cases, the fewest since 1990, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said in Tokyo today. There were no bankruptcies among listed firms last year for the first time in 24 years.