---
title: "Kampo / Japan Post Insurance"
aliases:
  - "kampo-japan-post-insurance"
  - "Kampo Life"
  - "かんぽ生命"
  - "かんぽ生命保険"
  - "Japan Post Insurance"
  - "JP Insurance"
  - "Kampo 7181"
  - "7181"
domain: insurance
created: 2026-05-25
last_updated: 2026-07-30
last_tended: 2026-07-30
review_by: 2026-11-25
confidence: likely
tags: [insurance, life, kampo, japan-post, postal, japan, alm, listed, scandal, ir]
status: active
sources:
  - "https://www.jp-life.japanpost.jp/"
  - "https://www.jp-life.japanpost.jp/ir/"
  - "https://www.japanpost.jp/group/"
  - "https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r1/hoken/20191227-1/01.pdf"
  - "https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/economic_value-based_solvency/index.html"
canonical_anchor: life-insurers/kampo-life
---

# Kampo / Japan Post Insurance

## TL;DR

[[life-insurers/kampo-life|かんぽ生命保険 (Japan Post Insurance Co., Ltd.; TSE Prime 7181)]] is one of the largest life-insurance balance sheets in Japan by reserve and asset scale, originated as the postal-savings-era national insurance scheme (郵便貯金 / 簡易保険 / "Kanpo") and now a publicly listed subsidiary inside the [[megabanks/japan-post-holdings|Japan Post Holdings (6178)]] group, which also owns Japan Post Bank (7182) and Japan Post Co. The franchise rests on three pillars that no other [[insurance/japan-life-insurance-big-four|life big-four]] insurer shares: the postal-channel distribution agreement with Japan Post Co.'s branch network, a structurally large in-force book of legacy 簡易保険 (kanpo) policies inherited from the privatization, and a long-duration yen-liability balance sheet running ALM under [[insurance/japan-life-insurance-alm-overview|the Japan life ALM]] dynamics in the low-rate / post-zero-rate era. The 2019 fraudulent-sales scandal (不適正募集問題) — improper conversion, dual-billing, and suitability failures across the postal sales force — was the defining recent governance event and reshaped distribution, supervision, and the product mix. The FSA / MIC business-improvement orders, the voluntary sales suspension, and the subsequent rebuild of sales infrastructure mean Kampo's post-2019 trajectory is structurally different from its pre-2019 trajectory even though the balance-sheet scale remains comparable to the largest private mutual life insurers.

## Wiki route

This page sits under [[insurance/INDEX|insurance INDEX]] and is the postal-life counterpart to [[insurance/japan-life-insurance-big-four|the Japan life big four]] and [[insurance/japan-life-big-four-overlay-comparison-matrix|its overlay comparison matrix]]. Read it together with [[insurance/japan-life-insurance-alm-overview|the Japan life ALM overview]] for the asset-liability problem, [[insurance/mutual-vs-stock-life-insurer|mutual vs stock]] for the corporate-form contrast (Kampo is listed, like Dai-ichi HD, but the parent and ultimate owner is JP Holdings, partly state-related), [[insurance/economic-value-based-solvency|economic-value-based solvency]] and [[insurance/esr-economic-value-solvency|ESR]] for the headline capital metric, [[insurance/life-insurance-channel-mix|the life insurance channel mix]] for the postal-channel placement, and [[insurance/insurance-agency-and-brokerage-japan|the agency and brokerage Japan landscape]] for the post-2019 channel rebuild. The entity anchors are [[life-insurers/kampo-life|Kampo Life / 7181]] and [[megabanks/japan-post-holdings|Japan Post Holdings / 6178]]. For the supervisor map see [[financial-regulators/fsa|the FSA]] and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC / 総務省) postal-business supervision.

## Identity and group structure

Kampo Life is the formal corporate successor to the pre-privatization 簡易保険 (kanpo) business of Japan Post, established as a stock-form life insurer during the 2007 postal privatization and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2015 alongside Japan Post Holdings and Japan Post Bank. The group hierarchy is:

- **[[megabanks/japan-post-holdings|Japan Post Holdings (6178)]]** — listed holding company; the Japanese government retains a strategic shareholding in the holdco.
- **[[regional-banks/japan-post-bank|Japan Post Bank (7182)]]** — listed bank subsidiary.
- **[[life-insurers/kampo-life|Kampo Life / Japan Post Insurance (7181)]]** — listed life-insurer subsidiary.
- **Japan Post Co.** — unlisted postal-service operating subsidiary; runs the post-office branch network through which Kampo policies are distributed.

The listing of all three operating entities is itself unusual: a holdco and two of its operating subsidiaries are all separately listed, which means Kampo carries holdco-shareholder governance from JP Holdings, public-market governance from its own listing, and group-level capital and group-business considerations from the JP Holdings level. Capital actions (including JP Holdings divestment of Kampo / Japan Post Bank shares) are an ongoing structural overhang.

## Balance sheet and scale

Kampo's general-account assets place it in the same scale bracket as the largest [[insurance/japan-life-insurance-big-four|life big-four]] mutuals. The reserve and asset profile is dominated by:

- **[[JapanFG/japanese-government-bonds|JGBs]]** — historically a very large share of total assets, reflecting the conservative public-sector heritage and the long-duration yen liability book; the JGB allocation share has gradually declined as the insurer extended into other asset classes.
- **Domestic credit, foreign-currency bonds, equities, and alternatives** — diversification away from the JGB-dominant legacy.
- **Hedged foreign-bond book** — the same ALM problem as the private big-four; see [[insurance/japan-life-insurance-alm-overview|Japan life insurance ALM overview]] for the framework.
- **Legacy kanpo block** — the pre-privatization 簡易保険 policies are accounted for under a separate management framework (managed under contract with the Management Organization for Postal Savings and Postal Life Insurance, 郵便貯金・簡易生命保険管理・郵便局ネットワーク支援機構) and overlay the new post-2007 Kampo block.

The dual structure — legacy kanpo + new Kampo — is the key feature that distinguishes Kampo's balance sheet from the private big-four. Asset-class allocation and ALM are reported on a consolidated basis but the underlying liability structure has two distinct vintages.

## Distribution: postal channel

The defining distribution feature is the postal-channel agreement with Japan Post Co. — Kampo policies are sold through the ~20,000-branch post-office network (the largest physical retail footprint in Japan) and through directly-employed Kampo sales staff. There is no tied female sales-force comparable to [[life-insurers/nippon-life|Nippon Life]]'s Nissay Lady model; instead the post-office counter staff plus Kampo sales staff form the dominant channel.

Other channels — bancassurance, independent agency, internet-direct — exist but are much smaller. The reliance on the postal channel is both the franchise's structural advantage (a customer base and physical-network reach no competitor can match) and the source of the 2019 scandal (the same network created sales-incentive pressure that drove the misconduct).

See [[insurance/bancassurance-economics-japan|the bancassurance economics Japan]] page and [[insurance/life-insurance-channel-mix|the life insurance channel mix]] for the broader channel context.

## The 2019 fraudulent-sales scandal

The 2019 不適正募集問題 / "improper-sales" scandal is the defining recent governance event:

- **What happened.** Internal and external reviews surfaced widespread improper-sales practices in the postal channel: conversion misconduct (existing policies surrendered then re-issued without proper suitability assessment), dual-billing (customer paying both old and new policy premiums during transition), suitability failures (sales to elderly / vulnerable customers without adequate explanation), and incentive-driven volume push by both Kampo sales staff and post-office counter staff.
- **Scale.** Tens of thousands of policies were identified as potentially problematic in the initial investigation; the figure expanded over subsequent reviews.
- **Regulatory response.** The [[financial-regulators/fsa|FSA]] and the MIC issued business-improvement orders to Kampo and Japan Post Co. A voluntary suspension of active sales solicitation followed, with phased resumption under upgraded controls.
- **Internal response.** Sales-force restructuring, suitability-control rebuild, board / management changes at Kampo, JP Holdings, and Japan Post Co. Renewal of the postal-channel agency contract with strengthened conduct guardrails.
- **Customer remediation.** A multi-year customer-contact and remediation program covering identified policies and an extended review universe.
- **Aftermath.** The post-2020 trajectory is a slow rebuild rather than a return to pre-2019 volumes. Net new-policy issuance contracted materially in the immediate post-scandal period and the in-force book has been managed under run-off-adjacent dynamics on the legacy block.

The scandal is publicly documented through FSA / MIC orders and Kampo / JP Holdings IR materials. Treat any "Kampo strategy" framing pre-2019 and post-2019 as structurally different periods.

## ALM in the low-rate era

The ALM problem at Kampo is conceptually the same as at the private big-four mutuals: long-duration yen liabilities, structurally low JGB yields, foreign-bond reach for yield, hedge cost on the foreign-bond book, equity-allocation reduction in line with the broader cross-shareholding wind-down. The features that distinguish Kampo are:

- **Higher historical JGB share.** Kampo's legacy allocation skew is more JGB-heavy than the private big-four, reflecting its public-sector origin; diversification has progressed but the starting point was different.
- **Smaller foreign-life affiliate footprint.** Unlike [[life-insurers/dai-ichi-life|Dai-ichi Life Holdings]] with Protective Life and TAL, Kampo does not have a comparable overseas-life acquisition portfolio. Diversification has been primarily asset-side rather than business-side.
- **Capital governance under dual listing.** Kampo's capital policy (ESR target, shareholder dividend, JP Holdings parent-shareholder dynamics) is governed by both its own listed-company framework and the JP Holdings group framework.
- **Legacy-block run-off dynamics.** The pre-privatization kanpo block runs off over time; the new-policy block has to compensate. Post-2019, new-policy issuance is materially reduced versus the pre-scandal trajectory.

ESR is published under the [[insurance/economic-value-based-solvency|FSA economic-value-based solvency]] regime from April 2025 onward, in the same format as the private big-four. See [[insurance/esr-economic-value-solvency|ESR]] for the ratio definition.

## Comparison with FSA life big-four

The following table is scoped to public primary sources (jp-life.japanpost.jp, japanpost.jp, fsa.go.jp). It restates licence / structure / product boundaries from those materials and does not invent market share, ranking, or unstated numerical claims. ^[source:jp-life.japanpost.jp; japanpost.jp; fsa.go.jp]

| Axis | FSA life big-four | Kampo (Japan Post Insurance) |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate form | Three mutuals + one listed holdco | Listed subsidiary of listed holdco (JP Holdings) |
| Listed | One of four (Dai-ichi HD) | Yes (TSE Prime 7181) |
| Ultimate ownership | Policyholders (mutuals) / shareholders (Dai-ichi HD) | JP Holdings (in turn part-government) |
| Primary channel | Tied female sales force + diversified | Postal channel (Japan Post Co. branches) + Kampo sales staff |
| Bancassurance vehicle | All four use bancassurance; Dai-ichi Frontier Life is dedicated | Limited |
| Independent agency vehicle | Used; Neo First Life is Dai-ichi-dedicated | Limited |
| Overseas-life portfolio | All four have meaningful overseas books | Limited |
| Asset / reserve scale | Tens of trillions of yen each | Tens of trillions of yen |
| JGB share | Substantial; trending lower with diversification | Historically higher; trending lower |
| Capital rule | FSA ESR (economic-value) | FSA ESR (economic-value) |
| Recent governance event | Various but no comparable systemic sales scandal | 2019 fraudulent-sales scandal |
| Listed-shareholder grammar | Dai-ichi HD only | Yes (Kampo + JP Holdings) |
| Group / holdco capital interaction | n/a (mutual three) / Dai-ichi HD listed only | Both Kampo and JP Holdings listed; group-capital and divestment-overhang considerations |

The cleanest analytical placement: Kampo is a fifth listed life-insurance balance sheet in the Japan market alongside Dai-ichi HD, with very different distribution architecture, scandal-shaped recent history, and a dual-listed group-capital overlay.

## Decision use

Use this page when:

- Reading Kampo's annual report, IR materials, or ESR disclosure with the institutional context in mind.
- Sizing the Japan life-insurance sector and including Kampo alongside the big-four mutuals plus Dai-ichi HD.
- Analysing the postal-channel distribution model versus tied / bancassurance / agency models.
- Tracing the structural consequences of the 2019 scandal — sales-force rebuild, suitability controls, run-off-adjacent dynamics on the new-policy book.
- Modelling JP Holdings group capital allocation and the Kampo / Japan Post Bank divestment overhang.
- Cross-referencing with [[life-insurers/kampo-life|the Kampo Life entity entry]] and [[megabanks/japan-post-holdings|JP Holdings]] for share-ownership and listing detail.

## Boundary cases / caveats

- **Numbers are conceptual.** Asset / reserve / ESR figures are date-sensitive; consult Kampo IR materials for current readings.
- **Legacy kanpo vs new Kampo.** The pre-privatization block has a different accounting / management framework. Don't conflate the two.
- **Postal-channel agency contract.** The agreement between Kampo and Japan Post Co. is a commercial contract subject to renewal; the structural channel logic should not be assumed permanent in current form.
- **JP Holdings capital policy.** JP Holdings (the parent) has its own capital and dividend dynamics and ongoing divestment of Kampo / Japan Post Bank shares is a structural feature, not a one-off.
- **Government ownership.** A residual government holding in JP Holdings shapes governance expectations; Kampo is not directly state-owned but the chain runs back to a state stake.
- **Pre-2019 vs post-2019.** Treat the scandal as a structural break. Trend extrapolation across the break is misleading.

## Related

- [[insurance/INDEX]]
- [[insurance/japan-life-insurance-big-four]]
- [[insurance/japan-life-big-four-overlay-comparison-matrix]]
- [[insurance/japan-life-insurance-alm-overview]]
- [[insurance/mutual-vs-stock-life-insurer]]
- [[insurance/economic-value-based-solvency]]
- [[insurance/esr-economic-value-solvency]]
- [[insurance/life-insurance-channel-mix]]
- [[insurance/bancassurance-economics-japan]]
- [[insurance/insurance-agency-and-brokerage-japan]]
- [[insurance/medical-cancer-insurance-product-economics]]
- [[life-insurers/kampo-life]]
- [[megabanks/japan-post-holdings]]
- [[regional-banks/japan-post-bank]]
- [[megabanks/nippon-post]]
- [[financial-licenses/insurance-license-and-solvency]]
- [[financial-regulators/fsa]]
- MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
- [[INDEX|FinWiki index]]

## Sources

- Kampo Life (Japan Post Insurance): official site and IR / annual report.
- Japan Post Holdings: group disclosure and shareholder materials.
- FSA: business-improvement order documents (December 2019) and economic-value-based solvency hub.
- MIC: postal-business supervision materials.
- Japan Post Co.: postal-channel agency disclosure.