The Latest News in Japan’s Life Insurance Market 2020: Innovation Labs
set up a full-scale operation to create business models.

Emphasized on the name, Nippon Life X
Nippon Life X was launched to respond rapidly to the diverse needs of customers and society.
It also accelerates existing activity in a distinctively Nippon Life manner [and] businessdevelopments that are difficult for Nippon Life to accomplish alone----.
Nippon Life launched Nippon Life X as the external name for the innovation development
office in April 2020. In August, Tokyo office of Nippon Life X was relocated to FINOLAB,the base for open innovation in Otemachi, Tokyo. And so, Nippon Life held a briefing session
for Nippon Life X and expressed its determination toward the challenge of creating new
business models as above.
Nippon Life’s journey of innovation activities set off by dispatching its employees to Silicon
Valley, USA to do some researches in FY2016. The efforts taken for these 4 years since then
are as follows.
FY2017: Started full-scall networking. Increased the number of employees in Silicon Valley
and then gathered information of almost 1,000 companies and interviewed with about 40companies. Jointly developed smartphone apps with Sales Development Group.
FY2018: Established Innovation Development Office within Corporate Planning
Department and set up the development investment limit of JPY10 billion. Started to invest inventure capitals.
FY2019: Posted new representatives to London and Beijing. Established its own base in
Silicon Valley. Prepared about 120 reports at all the bases combined. Increased the amount ofinvestment limit for innovation development to JPY30 billion. Invested in an AI avatar
company for the avatar which can be adopted to smartphone apps for sales agents.
FY2020: Started to use the name Nippon Life X and relocated its Tokyo office to FINOLAB.
Got the intrapreneurship program off the ground in April.
Nippon Life talks about its work accomplishment for the last 4 years in Silicon Valley asfollows.
“There is one big result in terms of adopting advanced technology to a sales field. As for theinvestment area, we started investing in venture capitals in the US and expanded the target tofunds and individual companies.
We’d say we have achieved a certain result if the companies we have invested in can reach1

the level that they produce some innovation for life insurance sales or new business in the next
step. This is still in a developing stage though…”
By the way, the “one big result” for a sales field is the smartphone app for sales agents using
an AI avatar, which will give some advice to the sales agents such as “Your presentation isgood on this point…” or “It would be much better if…” and so on for the presentation an agent
made toward the app.
Increased investment limit for innovation development to JPY30 billion
In November 2019, Nippon Life’s Innovation Development Office decided to increase theamount of the investment limit for innovation development from JPY10 billion to JPY30billion.
Its portfolio includes individual companies, venture capitals and investment trusts, and 70%of the limit have been invested on a commitment base so far. However, the investment isconsidered more like R&D expenses so that an investment return is a secondary result.
So how does Nippon Life find potential overseas startup companies?
“We have taken a very cautious approach as investing in overseas venture capitals first andthen setting up investment funds, and from there investing in individual companies,” said
Nippon Life.
In Japan, by taking advantages of Nissay Capital, Nippon Life sets up investment funds
every year with a certain amount of funds. They say that in the seed or early stage, a growthphase of the venture capitals, Nippon Life is taking a lead.
There also are names such as UTokyo IPC and Plug and Play in the US as its business
partners.
UTokyo IPC aims to expand the innovation ecosystem of the University of Tokyo. There
are three activities: entrepreneur support, investment business, and corporate innovation
support. Nippon Life joined in March 2020.
Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play will be utilized as its sourcing, (a means of selecting target
companies and further negotiation) for startups in USA, Japan and China.
As for the investment and research structure, in addition to 15 people placed in Tokyo, 1each in London and Beijing, 8 in Silicon Valley have been placed respectively.
The reason for setting up another base in London and Beijing is that “There exists a different
ecosystem in a different place and we need to follow each thoroughly,” according to Nippon
Life.
In Beijing, mega IT companies such as Tencent provide various platforms and create miniapps within apps. Thereby, mega IT companies are the main body of innovation or2

digitalization. On the other hand, in London, banks and insurers are in the center of innovation
ecosystem.
Fostering innovation awareness through intrapreneurship program
A service which allows a person who needs a temporary childcare service to search foravailable childcare places by the nearest train station and other conditions, and then apply forthe service through smartphone app---this is the idea selected through the paper screening of
the intrapreneurship program of Nippon Life.
Innovation Development Office launched an intrapreneurship program in April 2020.
Through the program, it aims to foster awareness for innovation and establish it as corporate
culture.
There are four new business areas it aims for: ①Childcare and Education, ②Healthcare,③Work style and Diversity, and ④Finance and Economics.
The program was offered to all the internal employees of almost 20,000 and by the deadline,
the end of May, 423 ideas were received. Applicants were ranged from 20s to 60s, including
not only head office staff but also branch staff.
According to Nippon Life, it appeared that managers in their late 30s and early 40s came up
with good ideas as they know the insurance business inside out.
During the paper screening in the beginning of August, 20 ideas made the cut. Of which, 7
ideas are in the area of childcare and education, 6 in healthcare, 1 in work style and diversity,and 2 in other areas.
At the midterm selection in September, 20 ideas will be reduced to about 10 ideas and at thefinal selection which will have been held by the end of December, a few ideas will be selected
to be commercialized.
After that, a project team will be formed centered with the idea’s proposer and supported bymembers of Nippon Life X, consultants and partner companies including startup companies
and they aims for commercialization in FY2021.
For the ideas which couldn’t make it this time, detailed feedbacks such as “This part wasgood but this part was lacking,” or “It’d be better if you dig further here,” are given back toapplicants.
Nippon Life shows its eagerness toward the program as “We’d like them to blush up theirideas at a seminar for people who proposed their ideas regardless of their approval or rejection.
We’d like to continue to keep this intrapreneurship program every year.”Development status of other companies competing for innovation3

Not only Nippon Life, but other life insurance companies are also working on establishingsystems which effectively conduct researches on new services with advanced technologies,
such as AI or wearable devices, and a proof-of-concept which assumed to be utilized for life
insurance business. Each company’s main initiatives are as follows.
<Dai-ichi Life>
Dai-ichi Life Innovation Lab was established in April 2018. The company pursues initiatives
by following the next four steps: ①Formulate business concepts, ②Gather information andconsolidate skills/expertise ③Conduct flexible PoC, Proof of Concept, and ④Contribute toexisting operation, etc.
On the global expansion aspect, Dai-ichi Life has set up the system to gather trend
information on advanced technologies and startups through the offices in London and Shanghai,with the center on Dai-ichi Life Innovation Lab, Silicon Valley established in July 2018 andthe regional headquarter in Singapore.
One of the results is dementia insurance released in December 2018. Its unique feature, acognitive function check tool, was arranged for a smartphone app by America’s startup
company, Neurotrack, with whom Dai-ichi Life formed a strategic partnership. The number ofpolicies sold for this dementia insurance exceeded 200,000 as of the end of May 2020.
<Sumitomo Life>
Sumitomo Life Digital Innovation Labs was established in Tokyo and Silicon Valley, USAin April 2018. It strengthens the partnership with South African’s financial services company,
Discovery, and the Netherlands’ NN group in the digital field.
In July of the same year, a health promotion type of insurance, Vitality, was released for thefirst time in Japan. Vitality is a wellness program developed and introduced by South Africa’s
Discovery in 1997. The number of sales surpassed 440,000 policies by the end of May, 2020.
<Aflac>In August 2018, Aflac Innovation Lab was opened. Its mission is to open up a new business
frontier by combining insurance and something else. In October of the same year, a healthpromotion type of insurance was started to be sold exclusively through online. Aflac will carryforward the projects focused on healthcare because it is no stranger to life insurance and easyto tackle with,<Meiji Yasuda Life>In April 2019, Meiji Yasuda Institute of Life and Wellness, Inc. changed its name to Meiji
Yasuda Research Institute. It enhances a basic survey on healthcare, advanced technology andbig data from a medium to long term perspective. Moreover, together with Digital Innovation
Development Office which is under Corporate Planning Department and is responsible for4

R&D and implementation, it aims to make their work be practically utilized in products andservices.
<Taiyo Life>
Taiyo Life Aging Society Institute was established in April 2020. From the standpoint ofprevention, early detection and early treatment of diseases, the institute conducts collaborative
researches with other academic institutions utilizing big data, and discloses the results widelyto public. Moreover, It tries to connect the results of those joint research projects or new
technologies and services the institute would find to insurance products and services.
<Asahi Life>
Asahi Digital Innovation Lab was established within Information System Planning
Department in April 2020. It aims for providing new added values and creating new businessmodels. It strengthens the cooperation with Asahi Life’s information system subsidiary, Info
Techno Asahi, and through the partnership with outside companies, it collects information
through external network and demonstrates flexible PoCs.

About the writer:

Kenichi Suzuki is an insurance journalist working for a major insurance trade paper for 34
years. From 2000 onward, he covers a wide range of insurance news including on-line life
insurers, insurance shops, overseas expansion of Japanese major life insurers, businessstrategies, Insurance Council, InsurTech, to name a few. He hosts a private study group,
Insurance Marketing Study Group. He occasionally takes a role of a speaker for OLIS seminars
and has previously lectured at OLIS overseas seminars in Taipei, Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok andJakarta.

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