Social Challenges

The affluent next-generation society being sought by Dai-ichi Life is not just a society with economic affluence, but one in which people can live and share better lives in all the aspects societies need to flourish, including good physical and mental health, living in a green-rich environment, having the privilege of accessing necessary education, and familiarizing themselves with culture and the arts.
Life insurance is one of the rare products that allow contact with customers for long periods of time, often decades. Some life insurance is handed down from parents to their children and follows the lives of customers generation after generation. Dai-ichi Life strives to contribute to the development of a sustainable society together with all generations and regions, by supporting not only the growth of the next generation but also adults, society, the natural environment and all other areas that support children.
In Japan, the progress of the aging population combined with the low birthrate is a pressing issue. The Company is committed to solving this problem, as it also has an impact on the life insurance business. In this manner, by identifying the issues of each country and region and contributing to local communities through the optimal use of the resources held by its Group companies, Dai-ichi Life Group aims to create and develop an affluent next-generation society in cooperation with the local communities.

Dai-ichi Life works to solve the problem of children being wait-listed for daycare/nursery centers as one of the issues in tackling the declining birthrate, in an effort to create an affluent society for the next generation, in which everyone can enjoy a comfortable life.

Since 2011, we have been working to attract daycare and nursing facilities to open in many of the real estate properties we own as an institutional investor through a partnership with daycare operators JP Holdings and Poppins Co., Ltd., which represents the first of initiative of its kind in Japan (according to our research) aimed at solving the issues of children waiting for enrollment in daycare and nursing facilities.
This initiative requires more efforts than typical tenant attraction activities because of the need for discussions with the local government and daycare operator, ensuring legal requirements are met in terms of facilities, carrying out the necessary safety improvements, and giving consideration to existing tenants. Nevertheless, we have persisted with our efforts and as of end of April 2023 we have attracted a total of 54 daycare/nursery centers to open at our real estate properties.
As a result, the maximum number of children that can be accepted in our real estate has increased to 3,255. We have exceeded the initial target of 2,500 children (equivalent to about 10% of the number of waiting children nationwide as of April 2011) (see the table below).
We will continue to work on attracting nursery schools to our real estate.

Number of daycare facilities attracted (As of end of April, 2023)

• (*1) Properties possession by the Company through a real estate fund
• (*2) Opened in FY2019 as a company-led nursery school (a part of the quota is used by our employees)
• (*3) Properties invested by the Company through a real estate fund
• Note: Includes properties that have been sold

Uchu Daycare Kamakura in the Kamakura Dai-ichi Life Building

The Dai-ichi Life Foundation recognizes the problem of children waiting as a pressing social issue, aids newly established daycare facilities and certified children's nurseries with toys and other equipment to help with qualitative improvements to childcare.
It has provided total aid worth approximately 120 million yen to 156 facilities in total to date.
The foundation conducts survey research, makes proposals, and provides aid, and publishes a newsletter to realize a healthy and livable society in an aging society with a falling birth rate, for the purpose of helping to create an affluent next-generation society. Through these efforts the foundation contributes to the further advancement of public interests.

• Link to The Dai-ichi Life Foundation's website (Japanese)

Picture books purchased with the subsidy
(Haru Ammicco Daycare, Nerima)

Biotope (Kaorukaze-Uehara Kodomoen, Shibuya)

 

Dai-ichi Life is committed to promoting finance and insurance education as a means to supporting the development of the next generation.

In 2012, the Company created Life Cycle Game II: Recommending a Total Life Plan. This is a consumer education tool that helps players learn about life risks and informs them about necessary preparation and consumer contracts through the enjoyment of a sugoroku-style game (sugoroku is the Japanese version of Parcheesi). The game was awarded the 8th Educational Material Merit Award, sponsored by the National Institute on Consumer Education, making Dai-Ichi Life the first winner among financial institutions.
This learning material is provided for free through our website, and at the end of March 2017 applications for approximately 20,000 sets had been received from schools, consumer service centers, government offices and other facilities. This learning material has gotten great interests from various parties.
Dai-ichi Life employees visit schools, consumer service centers, companies, among other locations, and provide classes and training using the learning material (96 times for 1,853 participants in fiscal 2016), and help promote consumer as well as finance and insurance education in schools, communities and companies.

• Receive an application for Life Cycle Game II: Recommending a Total Life Plan (Japanese)

An outreach class at a high school

Tsuneta Yano, the founder of Dai-ichi Life, introduced the first mutually owned entity in Japan's life insurance by founding the Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company. He had many outstanding achievements, not only in the insurance industry but also in other fields such as statistics, public health, social education and agriculture promotion. The Society was founded in 1953 after Tsuneta passed away to honor him for these achievements.
The statistics books, including Nihon Kokusei Zue (Japan statistics book) and Sekai Kokusei Zue (World statistics book), which were published in relation to the promotion and education initiatives of the Society, are now standard data books and are widely used in schools, university examinations, lecture presentations and training sessions. The Society conducts other public benefit activities such as encouraging and funding science and research promotion, operating scholarship programs and commending agricultural promoters (the Yano Award).

Japan Statistics (cover)

World Statistics (cover)

Prefectural Statistics (cover)

Japan Statistics for children (cover)

 

In celebrating its 60th anniversary in 1962, Dai-ichi Life began providing training to the life insurance industry in Asia through the Tsuneta Yano Memorial Society. Later, in 1970, the Company established FALIA (the Foundation for the Advancement of Life Insurance in Asia) to contribute to the development of Asia's life insurance industry. In 1994, its official name was changed to the Foundation for the Advancement of Life & Insurance Around the world in light of the increasing number of trainees from other parts of the world.
Training sessions and seminars have been held for foreign participants who are involved in the insurance business. As of March 2017, a total of 3,691 people from 29 countries have participated in training sessions held in Japan, and the number of overseas training sessions, held in 15 countries, reached 161. In fiscal year 2014, the Foundation launched a prize essay contest targeting students from emerging countries. The Company endeavors to develop and educate human resources who will engage in insurance administration and business, and aims to contribute further to the development of the insurance business in the future.

• Link to the FALIA's website

Training in Japan

Group photo

 

In 2005, Dai-ichi Life began providing financial donations for research support to the University of Tokyo's Center for Advanced Research in Finance. In addition, starting in fiscal 2015, the Company launched the Mathematics Academic Scholarship and the Academic Encouragement Scholarship for students of Rikkyo University with excellent grades.