The kyosai-business core of the JA Group’s 4 national federations = a cooperative “kyosai” operator spanning both the life and non-life domains. Established in 1951 , it is a federation founded on the Agricultural Cooperatives Act. Its in-force life-line policies are on the order of about 200 兆円, and it also deploys auto / building damage-lines on a large scale, providing life, annuity, auto, building, accident, and similar kyosai in a single package to its members (farmers / local residents) — making it one of the foremost insurance-business organizations in Japan. It is not a stock “insurance company” under the Insurance Business Act, but a “kyosai” under the Agricultural Cooperatives Act, regulated under a different legal regime. While holding a scale comparable to the Japan life insurance big four (Nippon Life / Dai-ichi Life / Meiji Yasuda / Sumitomo Life), it is a cooperative-organization-type distinctive segment that does not go public. As the 74.20% shareholder of Kyoritsu Fire Marine, it is also the parent company of a non-life insurer (deploying non-life business outside the cooperative via Kyoei Fire).
1. Organizational structure
Item
Content
Official name
全国共済農業協同組合連合会
Common name
JA Kyosairen / Zenkyoren
English name
National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenkyoren)
Legal form
A federation under the Agricultural Cooperatives Act (a kyosai-business federation)
Established
1951 (the postwar agricultural-cooperative reorganization period)
Headquarters
Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 2-7-9
Members
497 JAs nationwide + prefectural agricultural-cooperative kyosai federations + related corporations
Supervisory authority
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) (primary) + the FSA (cooperative supervision)
Kyosai business vs the Insurance Business Act (distinction)
Predetermined rates fell as the bubble burst and the investment environment deteriorated
2002〜
JA Kyosai brand unification
2003
Kyoei Fire & Marine Insurance made a subsidiary as the 74.20% shareholder
The 2010 年s
Strengthened linkage with industry auto-accident statistics for auto kyosai
2024〜
Promoting AI/digital assessment and contract DX, expanding member-facing smartphone apps
Flagship kyosai products
Product
Content
Industry equivalent
Whole-life kyosai
Death-protection type (life-line)
Equivalent to life insurers’ “whole-life insurance”
Endowment life kyosai
Maturity + death protection (life-line)
Equivalent to life insurers’ “endowment insurance”
Children’s kyosai
Educational-fund protection + death protection (life-line)
Equivalent to life insurers’ “educational endowment insurance”
Annuity kyosai
Whole-life / fixed-term annuity (life-line)
Equivalent to life insurers’ “individual annuity”
Building-restoration kyosai (Tatekou)
Fire + natural disaster + death protection combined (life/non-life composite)
Domestically unique
Auto kyosai
Equivalent to voluntary insurance (damage-line)
Equivalent to non-life insurers’ “voluntary auto insurance”
Disability kyosai / liability kyosai
(Damage-line)
Equivalent to non-life insurers’ “accident insurance / liability”
The channel of kyosai vs insurance
Sales channels: 497 JA cooperatives nationwide + prefectural federations + Zenkyoren direct sales
Centered on face-to-face / door-to-door sales to member households — similar to the “sales-lady” type of the life-insurance industry
In-force policies (the total of life-comprehensive + building-restoration kyosai) are 216 兆 9,652 億円 (as of the end of FY 令和 5 年) — a scale comparable to the life-insurance industry’s Big 4
The parent-company function for non-life complement
Kyoei Fire is a non-life company compliant with the Insurance Business Act = it can sell non-life insurance to non-members + can transact with general corporations
Domains that JA Kyosairen’s own kyosai cannot fully handle (marine insurance, high-value liability cases, etc.) are handled by Kyoei Fire
A hybrid model of a cooperative and a stock non-life company
Positioning as one of Japan’s largest insurance operators
Total-asset scale: 58 兆 4,751 億円 (as of the end of FY 令和 5 年, 101.4% year on year) — a scale comparable to Nippon Life (exceeding 90 兆円)
However, because kyosai is based on a member base under the Agricultural Cooperatives Act, it usually does not enter the Insurance Business Act-based scale rankings (the regulatory reporting differs)
Product competition
Building-restoration kyosai (Tatekou): a combined product of fire + earthquake + death protection = with no parallel in the private insurance industry, a strength unique to kyosai
The JA brand / local closeness ties directly into the competitiveness of kyosai premiums (insurance premiums)
Digital strategy
Policy inquiry / claims filing / predetermined-rate confirmation via the JA Kyosai app
The Agricultural Cooperatives Act (昭和 22 年Act 第 132 号)
[!info] Verification status
confidence: likely. Based on public information (JA Kyosairen official + JA Group Factbook + Kyoei Fire IR). In-force policies of 216 兆 9,652 億円 and total assets of 58 兆 4,751 億円 are confirmed figures from the FY 令和 5 年 (as of the end of 2024-03-31) JA Kyosairen financial-results summary. The Kyoei Fire investment of 74.20% is public information as of 2023-03-31.