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November 22, 2024
 

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INSURANCE

Japan will charge members of medical insurance programs with fees starting in fiscal 2026 to tackle the country's sluggish birthrate.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2024
Fight against low birthrate to cost ¥450 monthly per head
The government plans to boost annual spending on measures to fight the sluggish birthrate to ¥3.6 trillion by fiscal 2028.
Execs at four major Japanese insurers, including Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, will take pay cuts over price fixing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 1, 2024
Four general insurance firms punish 132 people over price-fixing
The four general insurers, including Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, also submitted business improvement plans to the Financial Services Agency.
A fight over Benefit One is the latest in a growing number of takeover deals in Japan, spurred in part by the Tokyo Stock Exchange pushing for improved corporate governance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 8, 2024
Dai-ichi Life gets Pasona's nod on Benefit One acquisition
The agreement with Pasona Group, which owns 51.16% of Benefit One, is crucial for Dai-ichi to win the battle against digital health care provider M3.
Sompo Holdings' Kengo Sakurada is planning to step down as the company's CEO at the end of March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 23, 2024
Sompo Holdings' CEO to resign over handling of Bigmotor wrongdoing
The Financial Services Agency has ended its on-site inspections of Sompo Holdings and Sompo Japan and is expected to issue business improvement orders.
The Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance headquarters in Tokyo. The insurer isn't interested in buying Japan’s superlong sovereign bonds until yields start rising.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 16, 2024
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance to avoid Japan sovereign bonds for now
Japanese life insurers are the main buyer of bonds due in more than 10 years and typically increase purchases toward the end of the fiscal year.
Rescuers search for missing victims at a landslide site in the Kawashima district in the city of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Saturday after a major earthquake struck the Noto region on New Year's Day.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2024
Ishikawa quake estimated to cost insurers $6.4 billion, report says
The government is considering designating the powerful earthquake as a disaster of extreme severity, raising subsidy rate for restoration projects.
The Tokio Marine & Nichido Building in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2023
Japan penalizes biggest property insurers for price fixing
The Financial Services Agency has issued business improvement orders on the core units of Tokio Marine, MS&AD Insurance and Sompo.
An office of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance in Tokyo in 2016.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2023
FTC inspects nonlife insurers over alleged joint contract cartel
The on-site probes follow reports the firms prearranged premiums for joint insurance contracts with corporate and public entities.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a meeting to discuss the results of comprehensive inspection of My Number information held at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2023
15,907 mistakes found over My Number info linkages
The government said it has completed personal identification checks for 82.06 million of the 82.08 million My Numbers subject to inspection.
Gender-neutral names were more popular for Japanese babies born in 2023, a survey has found.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 5, 2023
Popularity of gender-neutral Japanese names rose in 2023
The annual ranking by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, released Monday, showed that unisex names have risen in popularity.
The labor ministry is planning to review the workers' accident compensation program to cover all freelancers commissioned to work for companies.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2023
Japan to expand workers' accident compensation for freelancers
The measure is aimed at creating an environment in which freelancers can work with a sense of security.
Bigmotor's registration as an insurance agent will be revoked later this month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2023
FSA to revoke Bigmotor's registration as insurance agent
The planned penalty follows an investigation into widespread acts at Bigmotor of deliberately damaging customers' vehicles to pad insurance claims.
Nippon Life Insurance will focus purchases on 30-year JGBs, with the current yield of above 1.8% "good in terms of absolute level," a representative for the insurer said at a recent briefing.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 27, 2023
Japan's life insurers to boost JGB buying but wary of policy shift
Nippon Life, Dai-Ichi Life and Meiji Yasuda Life were among those who said they aimed to buy the longest-dated JGBs amid the highest yields in a decade.
AI software is being used to detect cognitive decline in older Japanese drivers in order to help prevent accidents.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 22, 2023
AI startup helps insurers spot cognitive decline in elderly drivers
Once reliant on a driver's age and model of car, some insurers now rely on AI to expedite settlements and craft more precise risk assessments.
There are expectations that Japan’s life insurers may increase purchases of Japanese government bonds as yields rise at home along with signs that the central bank is edging toward a normalization of monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 13, 2023
Japan’s rising yields and yen hedging costs drive insurers to JGBs
Japanese government bonds are drawing interest amid signs that the central bank is edging toward a normalization of monetary policy.
Whistleblower reports on Bigmotor's fraudulent activities prompted Sompo Japan and two other major nonlife insurers to suspend customer referrals to Bigmotor in June last year, but Sompo Japan soon resumed the referrals.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2023
Panel raps Sompo Japan's resumption of business with Bigmotor
The report said the resumption of business was caused by concerns among Sompo Japan execs about possibly losing deals with Bigmotor to rivals.
Financial Services Agency officials enter Bigmotor's Tama outlet in western Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2023
Watchdog starts on-site probe of Bigmotor and Sompo Japan
The investigation aims to dig deeper into the insurance fraud scandal by the leading used-car dealer. The probe is likely to take several months.
Load and haul operations at Thungela's thermal coal mining operation, Isibonelo Colliery (formerly Anglo American), in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, in March 2019
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 1, 2023
Coal miners forced to insure themselves amid climate concerns
Dozens of insurers have announced restrictions on their cover for the coal industry, particularly for new projects
A reader for My Number cards doubling as health insurance cards is set up at a clinic in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, this month.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 25, 2023
Linkage of My Number and insurance cards faces delays
A survey found that the linkage work was incomplete for 770,000 people across the country for whom the process was underway.
Novo Nordisk' anti-obesity drug Wegovy
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2023
Insurers can’t avoid covering weight-loss drugs forever
Evidence is mounting that drugs like Wegovy not only help patients lose weight but also help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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