Japan Post Insurance (かんぽ生命保険)

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This entry sits under life-insurers INDEX. Read it against Dai Ichi Life for peer / contrast context and insurance index for the broader system / regulatory boundary.

TL;DR

The privatization-succeeding subsidiary of the former Postal Life Insurance (Kampo) (which started in 1916 ). Under the Japan Post Group, TSE PRIME 7181 (2015-11-04 parent-subsidiary 3 社simultaneous listing). With consolidated total assets of about 59.6 兆円 (59兆5,556億円, as of the end of the 2025-03 period), it is a major domestic life insurer whose retail base is the nationwide post-office network (about 2 万 offices). The legacy of a historic event remains: over the 2019-06〜2020 improper-sales affair (double-charging between old and new contracts, improper sales to elderly customers, etc., totaling more than about 18 万 cases), it received a 2019-12 business-improvement order, 2020-01 collective resignation of the management team, and a 2020-04 business-suspension order (a 3 -month sales suspension). Under its medium-term management plan, it aims to restore trust and return to growth. With Japan Post’s phased sell-down accompanying the progress of privatization, the government’s shareholding ratio is gradually declining.

1. Company overview

Official name: 株式会社かんぽ生命保険 English name: Japan Post Insurance Co., Ltd. Securities code: TSE PRIME 7181 (listed 2015-11-04) Established: 2006-09-01 (as a postal-privatization preparatory company) Commenced operations: 2007-10-01 (began operations simultaneously with postal privatization) Headquarters: Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 2-3-1 Business type: a major domestic life insurer (the privatization-succeeding entity of the former Postal Life Insurance) Parent company: Japan Post Holdings Co., Ltd. (a consolidated subsidiary, with the shareholding ratio being sold down in phases)

Key KPIs (overview)

Item	Summary
Consolidated total assets	About 59.6 兆円 (59兆5,556億円, as of the end of the 2025-03 period. A decrease of 2.1% versus the end of the prior period)
Listing	TSE PRIME 7181 (2015-11-04 simultaneous listing with Japan Post and Japan Post Bank 3 社)
Parent company	Japan Post (a consolidated subsidiary, with the shareholding ratio being sold down in phases)
Main business	Personal life insurance (traditional products based on the former Postal Life Insurance + new products after privatization)
Sales channels	The nationwide post-office network (using Japan Post Co. as a sales agent) + own directly operated stores

Group structure

Japan Post Holdings (holding company, listed 6178)
  ├── Japan Post Co., Ltd. (100%) ── postal / logistics / post-office operations
  ├── Japan Post Bank (TSE PRIME 7182, shareholding ratio gradually declining via phased sell-down)
  └── Japan Post Insurance (TSE PRIME 7181, shareholding ratio gradually declining via phased sell-down)
        ├── Personal life-insurance products (whole-life, endowment, educational endowment, medical riders, etc.)
        └── Contracts with Japan Post Co. as the main sales agent

Under the privatization scheme, Japan Post’s policy is to dispose of its shares in Japan Post Insurance and Japan Post Bank in phases → the government’s shareholding ratio (via Japan Post) continually declines.

Key chronology

Year/month	Event
1916	The Postal Life Insurance system begins (under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications, as a state-run enterprise)
1949	The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is established (the Postal Life Insurance Bureau)
2003-04	Conversion to a postal public corporation (Japan Post, succeeding the Postal Life Insurance business)
2006-09-01	株式会社かんぽ生命保険 established (a privatization preparatory company)
2007-10-01	Postal privatization → Japan Post Insurance commences operations (under the Japan Post Holdings group)
2015-11-04	Listed on the TSE 1 Section (parent-subsidiary 3 社simultaneous listing) (Japan Post 6178 / Japan Post Bank 7182 / Japan Post Insurance 7181)
2019-06〜	The improper-sales affair comes to light (triggered by reporting from the Nishinippon Shimbun and others)
2019-07	The FSA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications begin on-site inspections
2019-12	FSA business-improvement order / MIC business-improvement order (improper sales of more than about 18 万 cases)
2020-01	Collective resignation of the management team (presidents, vice-presidents, etc. Japan Post / Japan Post Co. / Japan Post Insurance 3 社simultaneously)
2020-04	Business-suspension order (a 3 -month sales suspension) (the FSA and MIC)
2020-04〜	Under the new management team, begins trust-restoration measures / governance rebuilding
2022-04	TSE market-segment review → TSE PRIME
2024	The medium-term management plan (the renewed-growth phase after trust restoration) is underway

2. Business-segment map

Segment	Main products / channels	Characteristics
Personal life insurance	Whole-life insurance, endowment insurance, educational endowment insurance, etc.	Traditional products based on the former Kampo + new products after privatization
Medical / third-sector	Medical riders, cancer riders, etc.	An area expanded after privatization
Sales channel (in-house)	Own directly operated stores	Limited
Sales channel (partner)	Japan Post Co. = about 2 万 post offices (sales-agency contract)	The greatest differentiating factor / nationwide coverage
Customer base	The elderly, rural residents, small-scale individuals	Holds many long-term policyholders dating back to the former Kampo era

The former Postal Life Insurance brand and the post-office network

The **Postal Life Insurance brand, founded in 1916 **, has extremely deep penetration among rural and elderly demographics, and even after privatization it uses the nationwide network of about 2 万 post offices as its retail base → a physical-access advantage that no other life insurer has
Bank-counter sales and online sales started later than at other companies (such as dai-ichi-life Frontier Life)

Product diversification and post-privatization constraints

In the former Kampo era, because it was a state-run enterprise, there were constraints on insurance-amount ceilings and product design → after privatization, product diversification proceeded in phases (medical, cancer, high-value whole-life contracts, etc.)
However, under the privatization scheme, “consideration for other life insurers” was required, and product approval is subject to careful examination by the supervisory authorities (the FSA and MIC)
The coexistence of old contracts (Kampo) and new contracts (Japan Post Insurance) became a breeding ground for the double-charging problem

The improper-sales affair and trust restoration

The 2019-06〜2020 improper-sales affair (an investigation of more than about 18 万 irregularities) ★ — simultaneous enrollment in old and new contracts (double-charging), occurrence of uninsured periods, improper sales to elderly customers, omission of disadvantageous disclosures at the time of contract switching, etc.
2019-12 business-improvement order, 2020-01 collective resignation of the management team, 2020-04 business-suspension order (a 3 -month sales suspension)
Under the new management team, strengthened compliance / a review of sales quotas / stricter solicitation rules for elderly customers
Implemented customer-redress / contract-restoration programs
Governance rebuilding: strengthened internal whistleblowing / compliance systems / monitoring

The decline in the government’s shareholding ratio

It is built into the privatization scheme that Japan Post (the parent company) will sell down Japan Post Insurance shares in phases

Digitalization / customer-centric strategy

Under the 2024 medium-term management plan, it places digitalization / improving customer-centric services as a main axis
Paperless / online procedures / introduction of chatbots, etc.
Through linkage with the nationwide post-office network, it aims for both a digital and a physical axis

4. Regulation / policy

Holding-company regulation: Japan Post is subject to financial-holding-company regulation (both banking and insurance)
Privatization Act: the obligation to dispose of Japan Post shares and Japan Post Insurance shares in phases
History of business-improvement orders: 2019-12 / 2020-04 (a 3 -month business suspension) — an unusually heavy administrative sanction for a major domestic life insurer
Universal-service obligation: nationwide provision of financial services via the post-office network (a requirement under the Privatization Act) → this also affects the maintenance of Japan Post Insurance’s sales channel
Recent policy points:
- The timeline for full privatization (the resolution of government shareholding)
- Protection of former policyholders (the handling of long-term contracts dating from the Kampo era)
- Sales-quota management / sales regulation for the elderly (regulatory tightening after the affair)

dai-ichi-life · nippon-life — major domestic life-insurer peers
tokio-marine · msad · sompo — major non-life insurers (the insurance industry as a whole)
mufg · smfg · mizuho-fg — megabanks (FSA-supervised peers)

Sources

Wikipedia: かんぽ生命保険 (public information, 2026-05-19 extracted)
Japan Post Insurance official IR / history page (public information)
FSA business-improvement-order / business-suspension-order public materials (2019-12 / 2020-01 / 2020-04)
Japan Post Group integrated report (public basis)
Japan Post Insurance 2025年3月-period financial summary [Japanese standards] (consolidated) (consolidated total assets 59兆5,556億円, as of the end of the 2025-03 period) https://pdf.irpocket.com/C7181/vAfC/ITEh/s65S.pdf

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