Latest Japan Headlines

All the headlines from our Japan Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Global Reinsurers at ‘Critical’ Point, Says Best’s Report

Apr 26 2011 // A new special report, compiled by A.M. Best, concludes that the string of major catastrophes, a persistent soft market and the near exhaustion of excess reserves have placed global reinsurers at a “critical”...

Japan to Launch Massive Search for Quake Victims Bodies

Apr 25 2011 // Japan will send nearly 25,000 soldiers backed by boats and aircraft into its disaster zone Monday on an intensive land-and-sea mission to recover the bodies of those killed by last month’s earthquake and tsunami, the...

Beazley Remains Confident, Despite Q1 Catastrophes

Apr 25 2011 // The first quarter of 2011 reminded the insurance industry of just how unpredictable natural catastrophes can be. Beazley plc, which is headquartered in Dublin, but whose main activities, are in the Lloyd’s market,...

Munich Re Ups Dividend, Comments on Impact of 2011 Disasters

Apr 21 2011 // Munich Re’s annual general meeting (AGM) produced some good news for the shareholders of the world’s largest reinsurer. It announced a dividend increase to €6.25 [$9.138] per share for the financial year...

Catlin Estimates Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Losses at $200 Million

Apr 20 2011 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited announced that its initial estimate of the financial impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated areas of northeast Japan, are expected to be around $200 million,...

Summary of Re/Insurers’ Loss Estimates from Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami

Apr 19 2011 // Some of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers have issued initial estimates of how much the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 will cost them and more are expected do so over the next few weeks.Risk modeling...

Japan’s Meiji Life Says Confidence in U.S. Bonds ‘Unshaken’

Apr 19 2011 // Japan’s Meiji Yasuda Life plans to increase its investment in foreign bonds, focusing on dollar debt, with its confidence in U.S. Treasuries unshaken by the threat of a credit downgrade, a top executive said on...

Japan’s Tragedy a Reminder of Need for Business Interruption Insurance

Apr 18 2011 // The human, social and economic devastation in Japan from the massive earthquake and tsunami is overwhelming and business losses are just beginning to be tallied.Companies in the United States that purchase products or...

Reinsurance Rates Up, But Few Agree How Much

Apr 18 2011 // Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the...

Japan Plans State-Backed Insurer to Save TEPCO

Apr 15 2011 // Japan plans to set up a government-backed insurance fund to put money into Tokyo Electric Power and pay compensation stemming from the disaster at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Nikkei newspaper said.Aimed at...

Japan Businesses Demand Compensation for Nuclear Evacutaion

Apr 14 2011 // Small business owners and laborers forced to leave their homes and jobs because of radiation leaking from Japan’s tsunami-flooded nuclear plant rode a bus all the way to Tokyo on Wednesday to demand compensation from...

Global Nuclear Forum Backs Safety Push

Apr 14 2011 // A 72-nation nuclear forum said on Thursday it backed a U.N.-led campaign to strengthen atomic safety in the light of Japan’s crisis and promised to carry out prompt steps as a result.Japan’s month-long struggle...

Japan Insured Losses Up to $34 Billion: RMS

Apr 12 2011 // The March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami are likely to have caused up to $34 billion in losses for the global insurance industry, catastrophe modeling company RMS said Tuesday.RMS said the magnitude 9.0 quake and...

Tokyo Nuclear Plant Company Could Face $23 Billion in Losses

Apr 12 2011 // Tokyo Electric Power could face 2 trillion yen ($23.6 bln) in special losses in the current business year to March 2012 to compensate communities near its crippled nuclear plant, JP Morgan said in a research report...

Tokyo Rethinking Its Earthquake Plan After Japan Disaster

Apr 11 2011 // More than 10,000 people dead, hundreds of thousands injured, nearly one million buildings destroyed, millions forced to evacuate and a fifth of Japan’s economy wiped out.That’s the scenario forecast if a huge...

Strong Earthquake Shakes Japan’s Ruined Northeast Coast

Apr 7 2011 // Another Strong Earthquake Shakes Japan’s Ruined Northeast CoastA strong earthquake of magnitude 7.4 shook the northeast of Japan late on Thursday, and a tsunami warning was issued for the coast already devastated by...

Reinsurance Rates Rising, But Few Agree Where, How Much

Apr 6 2011 // Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the...

Reinsurance Rates Are Rising, but Few Agree Where

Apr 6 2011 // Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the...

Japan Quake Reveals Cracks in Insurance System – Part II

Apr 6 2011 // The first part of this article appeared on the IJ’s web site on April 5.PRICE PRESSURE Earthquakes may not be linked to each other, but they are linked to the financial markets, as anyone who has invested in insurers...

Japan Quake Reveals Cracks in Insurance System – Part I

Apr 5 2011 // Michael Korn is a popular person these days, which is perhaps not too surprising considering what he does for a living and where he lives. Korn is an insurance broker in earthquake-prone San Francisco.“We’re...