Changes in consumer spending and weaker demand for some goods in Japan is wreaking havoc on the country's supermarket sector. This week, the Nagasakiya chain, a medium-sized company running 95 food and non-food stores in Japan employing more than 2,000 people, collapsed with debts of $3.5bn. It has been grappling with a sharp decline in sales coupled with a fall in real estate prices. It had already attempted to restructure. President Tokuichi Kitajima said there was no hope for the company to remain profitable ­ but it is hoping to continue operating the stores. Analysts are predicting a shower of further activity in the sector, largely due to similar problems being experienced by other retailers. Daiei, the country's largest supermarket company, is also juggling liabilities of $22.4bn. "It is the inevitable result of overexpansion during Japan's bubble era," said one analyst. The company's crash has spurred the Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry to help prevent knock-on bankruptcies among the company's suppliers. {{NEWS }}