TOKYO, Feb 15 - Bankruptcies in Japan hit a post-war high for January and look set to keep soaring as the spectre of crisis looms over the financial system, a private research firm said on Friday. Teikoku Databank said the number of corporate bankruptcies in January surged 19.3 percent year-on-year to 1,620, the highest total for the month since World War Two. Total debt held by firms that went bankrupt also hit a record high for the month, rising 10.1 percent year-on-year to 1.07 trillion yen ($8.10 billion). The January bankruptcies brought the total number of cases so far in the business year through March to 16,552, the second-highest ever for the April-January period after 1984/85. Teikoku said 2001/02 could end up a record year for corporate failures as Japan veers toward a potential financial crisis, possibly as early as the end of the business year in March. "The financial system is once again near the point of crisis," it said. "With the Nikkei at post-bubble lows, banks and insurance companies facing mounting losses and rating cuts, long-term interest rates rising and the risk of a rapid plunge in the bond market, the danger of systemic risk in the financial sector continues to grow." The research firm said developers, trading houses and manufacturers could join the usual suspects such as contractors and distributors as sectors in peril. Manufacturing bankruptcies soared 34 percent year-on-year in January, and every sector except retail saw failures rise year-on-year. Teikoku said January 2002 was only the second month in the post-war era in which as many as four listed firms went under, putting it on a par with November 2001. Those firms were home builder Shokusan Jutaku Sogo Co Ltd 1920.T , Japanese-style tavern operator Kitanokazoku Co Ltd 9925.Q , frozen foods producer KB Co Ltd 2920.Q and clothing wholesaler Itariyard Co Ltd 3602.OS . Teikoku said that 1,247 of the bankruptcy cases in January, or some 77.0 percent, were caused by prolonged weakness in the economy. ($1=132.02 Yen)