The Hatoyama administration has made it clear that it will revamp the Japan Post group companies' privatization process, which started Oct. 1, 2007. Privatization was aimed at making postal services efficient and letting the money held by the postal bank and insurance services flow into financial markets, instead of being used solely for the government's fiscal investment and loans program.
The main reason to revamp the privatization process is the fear that privatization will cause difficulty for rural residents. The administration, which attaches importance to the revitalization of rural regions, considers a revamp unavoidable.
At present, four units — Japan Post Bank Co., Japan Post Insurance Co., Japan Post Service Co. (mail delivery) and Japan Post Network Co. (over-the-counter services) — operate under the wing of Japan Post Holdings Co.