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July 04, 2025
 

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BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2014

Dai-ichi Life edges closer to acquisition of major U.S. insurer

Dai-ichi Life Co. is in advanced talks to buy U.S. insurer Protective Life Corp., in a deal likely to be worth over $5 billion, making it the biggest acquisition by a Japanese insurer yet.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2013

Sumitomo Life eyes stake in Bank Negara's insurance unit

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. is among companies preparing to bid for a stake in the life insurance unit of PT Bank Negara Indonesia, according to two sources.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2013

Opinion divided on life term without parole

A 44-year-old man serving a life sentence in a prison in the Chugoku region believes that continuing to live a respectable life is the only atonement he can make for the families of the two people he killed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 7, 2022

‘Mika in Real Life’: Emiko Jean tackles parenthood, love and self-acceptance

A woman looking to connect with her long-lost daughter (with a very attractive adoptive father) may sound like a rom-com premise, but the author delves into heavy themes in her adult debut.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 10, 2019

'Five Million Dollar Life': Assessing the value of a single life

The weight of expectations — from family, friends, community — can be tough on any young person. Now imagine those people once paid $5 million to save your life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Oct 23, 2016

YouTube channel Life Where I'm From explores Japan from a kid's perspective

Greg Lam's YouTube channel Life Where I'm From started one morning with a simple idea.
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2015

Top life insurers face second-half obstacles to returns on investment

Japan's biggest life insurers face hurdles wherever they seek returns in the fiscal second half, as Bank of Japan debt buying depresses local yields, the yen shows signs of strength and currency hedging costs soar.
The $8.2 billion deal is the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese insurer to date and the second major transaction announced by Nippon Life this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024

Nippon Life to buy Resolution in $8.2 billion deal as it pursues U.S. growth

The deal is the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese insurer to date and the second major transaction announced by Nippon Life this year.
Hiroshi Shimizu (left), president of Nippon Life Insurance, and Satoshi Asahi, vice president and future president, shake hands after a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2024

Nippon Life’s $12 billion acquisition spree is just beginning

Having committed to pouring billions into a pair of global insurers, the firm is now turning to asset managers, as it seeks to diversify business at home and abroad.
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.
Nippon Life Insurance, Japan’s largest insurer by assets, will buy $250 million worth of convertible notes and $300 million of preferred securities issued by TCW Group.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2024

Nippon Life ramps up global push with $550 million TCW deal

The announcement comes just a day after Nippon Life agreed to buy Bermuda-based Resolution Life Group Holdings for about $8.2 billion.
Nippon Life Insurance will establish a new headquarters division in late March to manage its foreign businesses, and its overseas insurance and asset management departments will be absorbed into that organization, people familiar with the matter have said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 27, 2025

Nippon Life to revamp overseas business operations after acquisitions

Japan’s biggest life insurer will establish a new headquarters division in late March to manage its foreign businesses, and absorb related departments into that organization.
An artist's impression of the K2-18b super-Earth, the only super-Earth exoplanet known to host both water and temperatures that could support life
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2025

In a galaxy far, far away ... did we find life?

K2-18b, which has eight times the mass of Earth, just might be covered with a massive ocean and blanketed by an atmosphere complete with water vapor and rain clouds.
Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
May 12, 2025

What comes after 100?

The number of Japanese centenarians is on the rise, providing new models for how to live in a super-aging society.
Tokyo-listed Dai-ichi Life has been aggressively expanding beyond traditional life insurance in Japan and focusing on asset management as one of its growth areas.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2025

Dai-ichi Life to buy $1.1 billion M&G stake in partnership

Tokyo-listed Dai-ichi Life has been aggressively expanding beyond traditional life insurance in Japan and focusing on asset management as one of its growth areas.
An elderly couple at a shrine in Tokyo in 2020
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 28, 2023

Japan's average life expectancy continued to fall in 2022

The decline for both men and women were "largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic," a ministry official said.
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024

Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years

The rise in life expectancy may possibly be a reflection of a drop in fatality rates for COVID-19 patients.
The Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance headquarters in Tokyo. Paper losses on Japanese bonds held by the company expanded to about ¥1.386 trillion ($9.7 billion) in the year ended March, compared with ¥161.4 billion a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025

Japan's biggest life insurers post $60 billion in unrealized bond losses

The paper losses on their domestic bond holdings in the last fiscal year underscore the risks they face as interest rates climb.
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance will acquire Banner Life Insurance in the United States as it seeks to expand its business overseas amid sluggish domestic market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2025

Meiji Yasuda to acquire U.S. peer Banner Life

Japanese life insurance companies are expanding overseas for growth as the domestic market shrinks.
In recent years, Japanese life insurers have increasingly entered contracts in which assets underwritten by reinsurance companies are invested to obtain higher returns.
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2025

Japan’s FSA said to examine life insurers’ reinsurance risks

The Financial Services Agency is asking life insurers about the scale of the practice and the type of contracts they have in place.
China's female gamers are finding the male leads of Love and Deepspace more enticing than real-life partners.
LIFE / Digital
Mar 29, 2025

'Better than real life': In China, virtual boyfriends are emotional aids

For many, virtual companions offer more than entertainment — they provide emotional fulfilment.
New buyers are entering the market for Japanese government bonds and amplifying volatility, said Dai-ichi Life CEO Tetsuya Kikuta in an interview.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 27, 2025

Dai-Ichi Life sees falling volatility in JGB market

New buyers are entering the market for Japanese government bonds and amplifying volatility, Chief Executive Officer Tetsuya Kikuta said in an interview.
Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings, a move that suggests they see a lower likelihood of the yen showing the kind of strength it did in the past.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 30, 2025

Japanese life insurers cut bullish yen hedges to 14-year low

Nine of Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings to 44.4% at the end of March from 45.2% six months earlier.
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.
Founded in 1879, Tokio Marine was Japan's first nonlife insurance company and it has since expanded into life insurance and now has a presence in 46 countries besides Japan.
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2024

Tokio Marine pauses sale of Southeast Asia life insurance business, sources say

The delay appears to be due to the firm's dispute with a Malaysian partner.
As the global trade war intensifies, the debt, the main investment for Japan’s life insurers, has seen wild swings along with its U.S. counterparts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 18, 2025

Major Japan life insurer to pile into domestic superlong bonds

Investment decisions by Japan’s life insurers can move global markets, and Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance will be the first among its major peers to report such plans.
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Onosato's yokozuna promotion causes rare quirk in new sumo rankings
Newly promoted yokozuna Onosato holds a copy of the latest banzuke ranking in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Over 900 earthquakes strike Tokara islands in space of two weeks
A screenshot shows many quakes occurring in the Tokara islands over the past 30 days, in this image taken from the U.S. Geological Survey website.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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