Jorei based on mutual aid spirit The site is used as “jorei (fixed remuneration) park” (in Fukutsu city, Fukuoka prefecture) It is former Munakata county of Fukuoka prefecture facing the Genkainada Sea. This region, which is sandwiched between two government-designated cities, Fukuoka city and Kitakyushu city, is said to be “hometown of the health insurance system”. To solve the question, Inoue surveyed and listed the result in Munakata County Doctor Journal from September 1976 to April 1978. And then he published “The headwaters of the health insurance, jorei of Chikuzen Munakata” (the Nishinippon Shimbun newspaper) . To the strange questions such as “How did you pay the cost of treatment?”, … Continue reading →

Looming wall of law Owing to efforts of Yajiro Shinagawa (1843-1900, later the Interior Minister) and Tosuke Hirata (1849-1929, later the president of sangyokumiaichuokai (general association of cooperatives)), who had met in Germany studying abroad, sangyokumiai (cooperatives) law was enacted in 1900. In the year, it has also been enacted the Insurance Business Law. Keijiro Okano (1865-1925, Doctor of Laws, later cabinet legislation bureau director), who was a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, played central role in drafting both of laws. Insurance Business Law allowed only company organization (stock company, mutual company) to operate insurance business. The cooperatives organizations had not been allowed insurance business. On the … Continue reading →

Leaders of sangyokumiai (cooperatives) interested in insuranceIn Germany, Raiffeisen (1818-1888), whose cooperatives model was adopted by Japanese sangyokumiai (cooperatives), envisioned the cooperatives insurance in 1872. He tried to carry out it in the rural credit cooperatives, but the German government refused it. Then he withdrew it and later carried out it based on modified plan. In Japan, executives of sangyokumiai (cooperatives) also seemed to have been interested in insurance from early times. Yoshio Udo (1876-1937), who became vice president of sangyokumiaichuokai (general association of cooperatives) later, published a paper titled “Insurance business and Cooperatives” in the magazine “sangyokumiai, No. 14” issued in December 1906. He also cited the name of … Continue reading →

Medical cooperatives aiming for rescuing farmers “I have a consultation. Please come. Kagawa.” Taiichi Kurokawa(1908-1985), later managing director of National Mutual Insurance Federation of Nogyokyodokumiai (agricultural cooperatives), received this telegram on 9 January 1931. “Kagawa” written in the telegram was Toyohiko Kagawa (1888-1960), indispensable person for talking about cooperatives movement and cooperatives insurance business in Japan. The next day Kurokawa rushed to Kagawa, who lived in Tokyo for the rescue in the Great Kanto Earthquake. Yoshimichi Kodachi (1899 – 1979), who had worked on Kobe consumption cooperatives (current Consumers Co-operative Kobe) under the Kagawa, also visited Kagawa. Kagawa said, “I decided to establish medical cooperatives. Do it together with Kodachi.” … Continue reading →