160309-0035 - Life Insurance Advertising

Advertising postcard for the Asahi Seimei Hoken life insurance company (旭日生命保険株式会社) featuring an illustration of an elderly couple holding wads of banknotes.

The caption reads, “Joy of old age.”

The first truly Japanese insurance company was Tokio Marine, established in 1879 (Meiji 12). Meiji Seimei, founded in 1881 (Meiji 14), was the first Japanese life insurance company.

Asahi Life Insurance was established 31 years later, in 1912 (Taisho 1).

The Japanese government jumped into the market when it launched the Postal Life Insurance Service, popularly known as Kampo, in 1916 (Taisho 5).

Japanese text: 老後の喜び 旭日生命保険株式会社 (Rogo no yorokobi. Asahi Seimei Hoken Kabushikigaisha)