Japan had incredible increases in the 80's and 90's of 20-30 thousand publishers a year until it collapsed in 1998....figure since then till 2011 have been going down.
1998 -222,912 Publishers -3,802 Congregation
9 Years later.
2006 -217,519 Publishers -3,164 Congregations {loss of 5,357 publishers closed 638 Congregations}
{Note that Japan Publishers average 31 hours a month compared to world 15 hours}
Did the rise of the internet do this, or the Cult subway gassing in Tokyo around that time, or the "generation 1914 teaching"