The Lower House on Thursday passed a bill to revise the privatization scheme of the Japan Post group. The bill was jointly submitted to the Diet on April 3 by the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito. It represents a rare case in which consultations among the three parties in the divided Diet has produced a bill.
The Diet is expected to enact it by the end of the current Diet session, which ends on June 21. It is hoped that the bill will improve the Japan Post group's overall services.
As a result of the privatization pushed by the administration of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the Japan Post group consists of five companies. Japan Post Holdings has under its wing Japan Post Service (mail delivery), Japan Post Network (counter services at post offices), Japan Post Insurance and Japan Post Bank.