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June 30, 2026
 

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INSURANCE

A shed submerged by floodwaters. Insured losses from natural catastrophes globally reached $107 billion last year, according to reinsurer Swiss Re.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2026
Insurers urge Australia to launch $21 billion flood defense fund
The funding would be used on tasks including adding more flood-protection infrastructure like dams or levees, and also for a property buyback program.
The country’s biggest insurers are sitting on swelling paper losses on their holdings of Japanese government bonds, which have slumped as the central bank raises interest rates.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2026
Accounting group seeks to ease rules on Japanese insurers’ bond losses
Bonds held by life insurers to match long-term policies would be treated as held to maturity if certain conditions are met, and would not be subject to impairment accounting.
Federal law enforcement agents detain a demonstrator during a raid in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2026
Rich world’s growing civil unrest comes with an insurance sting
Claims tied to SRCC — strikes, riots and civil commotion — are emerging as a growing headache for insurers.
Dai-ichi Life Holdings has become the latest of Japan's life insurers to reveal misconduct.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2026
Dai-ichi Life reports 1,155 unauthorized data transfers
The information taken from the insurance agents without permission included personal data of customers, Dai-ichi Life Holdings said.
Prudential Life Insurance's CEO, Hiromitsu Tokumaru (second from left), bows at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2026
Prudential’s fraud scandal casts spotlight on fully commission-based remuneration
The model, which appears to be unique to Prudential in Japan, is thought to have been a factor that led some of the insurer’s employees to commit fraud.
Prudential Life Insurance's new CEO, Hiromitsu Tokumaru (second from left), speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2026
Prudential Life’s new CEO seeks to overhaul work culture in wake of fraud
The firm’s compensation system, which is heavily weighted on performance, left employees on edge and played a major role in fueling the misconduct, the new CEO said.
Prudential Life Insurance will suspend sales of new insurance policies for 90 days starting Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2026
Life insurance firm pauses sales following revelation of financial misconduct
Prudential Life Insurance was found to have mishandled about ¥3.1 billion through schemes ranging from fraud to borrowing money from clients.
Prudential Life Insurance in Tokyo said more than 100 current and former employees had been defrauding customers of money.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2026
Over 100 employees of Prudential Life Insurance behind ¥3.1 billion fraud, firm reveals
An internal probe uncovered fraudulent activities committed by current and former employees against some 500 customers.
Shinichiro Funabiki, president of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings suggested the insurance group is set to consolidate its domestic bases from some 360 to 240.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 12, 2026
Japan insurer MS&AD to consolidate domestic bases
The major nonlife insurer aims to achieve ¥700 billion in profit as the basis for shareholder returns in fiscal 2030.
Sompo Holdings intends to “invest broadly in credit assets that offer high profitability and different risk-return characteristics,” the general manager of Sompo’s investment management department said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2026
Japanese insurer Sompo to ramp up overseas credit investments
The Tokyo-based company moved several investment managers from its Japan insurance subsidiary to work in the U.S. from this month.
Nippon Life Insurance President Satoshi Asahi says the firm is always looking at further acquisition opportunities, particularly in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2025
Nippon Life seeking overseas acquisitions and watching bond yields
Japanese financial firms have been aggressively making acquisitions abroad to make up for a lack of growth prospects at home.
To address the economic burden on expectant and nursing mothers, the health ministry plans to set a nationwide uniform amount for childbirth expenses, then fully cover it with health insurance.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 4, 2025
Japan to give full insurance coverage for childbirth costs
Childbirth costs have continued to rise due to factors such as inflation, with the nationwide average in fiscal 2024 hitting ¥519,805.
A bear warning sign is seen near where a Spanish visitor was attacked by a cub in October at Shirakawa-go, a popular tourist spot in the village of Shirakawa in Gifu Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2025
Bear insurance takes off in Japan amid surge in deadly attacks
A record total of 13 people have died from bear attacks in the country since April.
Insurance premium revenues rose 30.4% from a year earlier at Meiji Yasuda, 13.4% at Nippon Life and 4.0% at Sumitomo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 21, 2025
Three major Japan life insurers see revenue growth in April-September
Insurance premium revenues rose 30.4% from a year earlier at Meiji Yasuda, 13.4% at Nippon Life and 4.0% at Sumitomo.
Prescription medicines similar to OTC drugs are often for mild symptoms, such as pain relief patches, moisturizers and hay fever medication.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2025
Japan to review coverage for prescription medicines similar to OTC drugs
Prescription medicines similar to OTC drugs are often for mild symptoms, such as pain relief patches, moisturizers and hay fever medication.
Rising domestic yields are leading Japan’s top life insurers to increase local bond holdings and reduce overseas debt as foreign returns lose their appeal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 29, 2025
Japanese insurers trim foreign debt as domestic yields soar
Roughly half of 10 companies that disclosed half-year investment plans said they had cut overseas debt holdings.
Yukinori Takada, president of Sumitomo Life Insurance, is interviewed on Wednesday in Bellevue in Washington.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 19, 2025
Sumitomo Life to mull using AI tech to support sales agents
The comments followed a series of scandals in the industry that called into question the relationships between life insurance companies and their sales agents.
Representatives of four major nonlife insurance companies receive a notice from the Japan Fair Trade Commission regarding a cease and desist order, on Oct. 31, 2024, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 22, 2025
Scandals put Japanese nonlife insurers’ business model at a crossroads
A series of recent scandals has brought to light deeply entrenched and problematic business practices within the industry.
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance said Thursday that it will sell to local governments a policy to cover property damage caused by bullets fired during wild bear extermination.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2025
Japan insurer to launch policy linked to bear culling
The move comes as the revised wildlife protection and management law is set to take effect in September.
A delivery driver takes a break in the shade during high temperatures in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 2024.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2025
How much does a heat wave cost? Insurers and CEOs want to know.
Some believe a new market for heat insurance — driven in part by artificial intelligence and the need to cool data centers — is around the corner.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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