Reform on the Insurance Law in Japan

On March 5, 2008, a proposed bill on Insurance Law reform was published in Japan. The bill's aims were the modernization of the current outdated insurance regulations and the protection of policyholders and the insured. In this paper, I will introduce the proposed bill's three important amendments: reform of the duty of disclosure system, the problem of over-insurance, and matters concerning accident and illness insurance. While the contents of these reforms will doubtless contribute to the protection of both policyholders and the insured and I am in broad agreement with their objectives, some residual problems remain. One of these is the issue of life policies for minors, i.e. whether death benefits on such policies should be capped. It is the author's contention that some form of restriction ought to be applied.