Transplanting a socio-cultural innovation: Life insurance in Meiji Japan

Abstract

This study examines the establishment of a domestic life insurance industry in Meiji Japan from a comparative perspective. Life insurance represented a socio-cultural innovation that emerged in the context of Western modernization. Its rapid adaptation to Japan’s socio-economic and cultural environment was remarkable. To uncover the underlying mechanisms of this process, the study addresses three key questions: how foreign insurers, the government, and domestic entrepreneurs contributed to the establishment of the industry; how the market was developed as seen in the occupational and regional distribution of early customers and the changes in product composition; and how domestic entrepreneurs sought to convince policyholders of the moral legitimacy of life insurance, the fairness of their offerings, and their ability and willingness to fulfil their long-term contractual obligations. The findings are contrasted with experiences in other countries, revealing both differences and similarities that can be linked to variations and commonalities in national context.