For those who prefer to read this column in English, the Japanese text is followed by a British English translation, so please scroll down to the bottom of the Japanese text.

今日は、2024年の元日、日本全国どこでも、親戚、家族が集まって、お酒を酌み交わしながら新年のお祝いをしている日である。午後4時過ぎ、その団らんを打ち破るように「石川・能登で震度7　沿岸部に津波警報」という速報がテレビで流れた。

筆者が大学を出て入社した外資系損害保険会社では、若くして全国の企業保険分野を統括する本社の枢要な立場に就かせていただき、素晴らしい上司やスタッフに恵まれていた。外資系損害保険会社としては日本最大、当時でも従業員は2000名を超え、日本の損害保険会社と比較しても中堅損保以上の規模を有していた。しかし、「本社」と言っても所詮「日本拠点の本社」であり、米国ニューヨークには世界を統括する「本物の本社」が存在していた。「箸の上げ下ろしまで」という表現が適切か解らないが、微細にニューヨーク本社にコントロールされながら、多少の息苦しさを感じる「本社の枢要な立場」であった。

まだ、血気盛んな30代であり、また、新入社員時代からニューヨーク本社には毎年のように出張、ニューヨーク本社の幹部とも知り合う機会も多く、「世界の損害保険のフィールドで働いてみたい」との思いが募っていた頃であった。親しい友人、知人には慰留されたが、「どうしても世界的な損害保険のフィールドで働いてみたい」と海外に出ることに挑戦、当時世界最大級の保険会社の一社、CIGNAコーポレーションから声を掛けていただき、米国フィラデルフィアの地で本社幹部の面接を受け、幸いなことに合格してフィラデルフィア本社のキャプティブ部門で勤めることになった。

その年の冬、上司から、「君は日本人だからクリスマス休暇というより、新年休暇の方が良いだろう」と、1994年の年末、休暇のために一時帰国。「日本の正月」をたっぷり味わい、翌1995年1月20日のフライトでフィラデルフィアに戻る予定にしていた。

その矢先、1月17日に起きたのが「阪神・淡路大震災」であった。早朝からのテレビ報道で被害の凄まじさを見せつけられ続けていた。日本拠点の社長に連絡を取ると、「直ちに被害状況の確認と損害保険金の支払いの調査に向かう」と言うので、思わず「こんななか、どうやって行くのですか？」と聞くと、「新幹線もクルマもダメだが、ようやくヘリコプターを2機チャーターできた、これで上空から撮影してそれを基に被害状況を掴んで早急に損害保険金を支払うように準備する」とのことであった。

当時CIGNAは、60階建ての本社ビルを２本、国際本部、国内本部としてフィラデルフィアの中心街に有していた。以前のコラムに記したが、フィラデルフィア本社で面接を終えた際、「CIGNA Museum（シグナ・ミュージアム（博物館））に連れて行ってあげなさい」とCEOに指示された副社長（EVP）に、その一つのビルの中にあった「シグナ・ミュージアム」に連れて行かれたことがある。「これが、1792年、当社最初の保険証券、ロンドンからフィラデルフィアへの航海中の貨物にかかわる海上保険証券です」と見せられ、伝統と格式を強く感じたことを思い出す。

写真左側に２本ある似た形の60階建ての超高層ビルは、CIGNAがフィラデルフィアに所有していたビルの写真であり、１本は「国内本部」もう１本には「国際本部」が入っていて、筆者の部屋は後者の50階にあった。CIGNAがどれほど巨大な企業だったのか、会社の偉容を物語る一枚の写真である。

The two similarly shaped 60-storey skyscrapers on the left of the photo are CIGNA’s buildings in Philadelphia, one housing the National Headquarters and the other the International Headquarters, and my room was on the 50th floor of the latter. It is a picture that shows how huge CIGNA was and how great the company was.

1．地震調査研究推進本部

この1995年1月17日発生した阪神・淡路大震災では、6,434名の犠牲者を出し、また10万棟を超える建物が全壊する戦後最大の被害をもたらしたが、併せて、日本政府内でも、「一元化されておらず、『司令塔』が存在しない地震防災対策に関する構造的な課題」を浮き彫りにすることになった。

こういった課題への対応として、同年7月、「全国の総合的な地震防災対策を推進して、全国の地震調査研究を一元的に推進するための政府機関」として、総理府内（現在は文部科学省内）に「地震調査研究推進本部」（略称「地震本部」）が設置された。

下図は、地震調査研究推進本部のホームページにある「地震に関する評価」のカテゴリーのなかで、「地震動予測地図」として、多くのマスメディアにも引用され多くの人々の目に触れた「全国地震動予測地図2020年版」であり、「今後30年間に震度６弱以上の揺れに見舞われる確率」について、「特定の地震に対して、ある想定されたシナリオに対する詳細な強震動評価に基づく『震源断層を特定した地震動予測地図』を合わせた『全国地震動予測地図』」と記されているものである

全国地震動予測地図2020年版

the 2020 edition of the National Seismic Hazard Map

確率論的地震動予測地図 

Probabilistic seismic prediction map   

今後３０年間に震度６弱以上の揺れに見舞われる確率

Probability of experiencing an earthquake of intensity 6 lower or greater in the next 30 years

出典：「全国地震動予測地図2020年版」（地震調査研究推進本部）

Source: “the 2020 edition of the National Seismic Hazard Map”(the Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion)

2．地震の種類

地震は、一般的には「海溝型地震（プレート境界型地震）」と「断層型地震（直下型地震）」,この二つに大きく分けることができる。

海溝型地震（プレート境界型地震）は、プレートどうしが接している境界で発生する地震である。下図のように、日本列島は地質学的には、「ユーラシアプレート」と「北米プレート」の境、大地溝帯である「フォッサマグナ」によって、「プレート」が別れていて、日本列島の西半分は「ユーラシアプレート」、北海道を含めた東半分は「北米プレート」と、「乗っている土台」によって別れている。

（出典：「気象庁ホームページ」）(Source: Japan Meteorological Agency （JMA ）website)

日本列島の西半分側、「九州から西日本を形成している土台」である「ユーラシアプレート」に海側の「フィリピン海プレート」が沈み込んでいる場所が「南海トラフ」であり、「南海トラフ巨大地震」の発生が懸念されている場所である。「フォッサマグナ」の東側、北海道、日本列島の東半分の土台が「北米プレート」であり、そこに海側の「フィリピン海プレート」が沈み込んでいる場所が「関東大震災」をはじめ、これまで関東圏に多くの地震災害をもたらした「相模トラフ」である。

そして、「太平洋プレート」が「北米プレート」に沈み込んでいる場所が千島海溝、日本海溝であり、東日本大震災クラスの巨大な「海溝型地震」の発生が危惧されている場所である。

一方、海側のプレートが陸側のプレートに潜り込んでいくときに陸側のプレート内部に蓄積された歪みである「断層」がずれて、震源の浅い地震が発生するのが「断層型地震」であり、一般的には「直下型地震」と呼ばれているものである。この地震は居住地の直下で発生するため、震源が浅い場合には、局所的に激しい揺れが起こり、家屋の倒壊や火災などを引き起こし、直接的な大きな被害をもたらす。「阪神・淡路大震災」がこれにあたる。

関東地方は北米プレート上にあるが、フィリピン海プレートが北米プレートの下に潜り込んでいく境目に形成された相模トラフが関東大震災の震源になった点で関東大震災は「海溝型地震」となる。

被害想定の大きさ、全国規模の被害の拡大という点から南海トラフ巨大地震の陰に隠れがちであるが、関東圏全域を襲う「首都圏直下地震」は日本の首都東京に甚大な被害を与え、日本の首都機能を奪う可能性があるという点から万全の備えが非常に必要であることは論を待たないであろう。しかし、その備えは万全とはなっていないようである。

3．地震保険普及率の低さを改善するキャプティブ

政府の地震調査研究推進本部が公式に表明しているとおり、「甚大な被害をもたらす可能性のある大地震発生の可能性は高い」。しかし、地震保険の加入率は低いままである。その理由はどこにあるのか。ひとえに「保険料が高い」と見なされているからであろう。首都圏では、個人保険分野の地震保険でも、主契約である火災保険料の約4倍から5倍の保険料になる。保険金額が非常に大きな企業向け地震保険では、地震保険料は非常に高いものとなっている。しかし、この地震保険料は何も根拠も理由も無く決定されたものではなく、「リスク応分の保険料」なのである。

企業保険分野の地震保険の保険料も同様である。グローバル・リンクがキャプティブの設立コンサルティングをおこない、その運営管理を任されている実例でも、保険金額800億円に対して主契約である火災保険料は2000万円、これに対して地震保険料は2億8000万円、10倍以上の差である。

もし、この地震保険料が「掛け捨てのまま」であれば、果たして地震保険を購入されたであろうか。答えは「否」である。「キャプティブの設立によって、実質的な地震保険コストが安くなったから購入の決断をした」というのがその顧客の地震保険購入の理由であったからである。

キャプティブを設立することによって、世界最大級の海外の再保険会社がキャプティブからの再保険を引受ける。つまり、世界最大級の海外の再保険会社が、最終的に地震リスクを引受ける。しかも、その世界最大級の海外の再保険会社がそのリスクを引受ける保険料、つまり「キャプティブからの再保険料」は8000万円である。この結果、「2億8000万円の保険料全額が掛け捨てにならず」に、そこで生まれた「内外価格差」によって毎年2億円あまりが「キャプティブの収益」となるプログラムだからである。

今回のまとめ

京都大学の鎌田浩毅名誉教授執筆の「首都圏直下地震と南海トラフ」（MdN新書）には次の一文がある。

日本列島が「動く大地」となってしまった以上、そこで生きていく私たち一人ひとりが、この事実を受け入れて「覚醒」しなければなりません。これまでと違った考え方、行動力を持つ必要があるのです。

前述のとおり、政府は、首都圏直下地震が起きた場合の被害予想は、最大で1万1000人の犠牲者、全壊、焼失家屋61万棟、95兆円の経済被害が出ると想定しているが、鎌田名誉教授は、「東日本大震災によって事実上、東日本の内陸部では首都圏も含めて直下型地震が起きる確率が高まった、と考えた方がよいでしょう」と同書で警鐘を鳴らしている。

日本は、地震・津波などの地震災害国であるにも関わらず、国内の損害保険会社が販売する一般的な地震保険商品では、企業が必要とする高額の補償を確保することは困難な状況が続いていると言われている。一方、海外の保険市場には、巨大な保険引受力（キャパシティ）が存在するため、国内の一般的な企業向け地震保険商品では提供できない高額の補償を廉価で得ることができる可能性が高い。

日本損害保険協会の行動規範には、「安心かつ安全で持続可能な社会の実現と、経済および国民生活の安定と向上に資する相互扶助制度を円滑に運営することが、損害保険事業の社会的使命として求められている」とある。

つまり、損害保険会社はその社会的使命として、「ある特定の一社にのみ補償を提供することではなく、日本国内の個人、企業に遍く広く補償を提供すること」が求められている。「一社のみの要望に応える存在」になることはできない。だからこそ、「一社のみの要望に応えるキャプティブ」が果たす役割は非常に大きいと言えるのである。

さらに、前述のとおり、海外に設立したキャプティブを通じ、海外の保険市場からキャプティブの再保険を廉価で確保することによって、元受保険会社と海外の保険会社との保険料の差額はキャプティブの利益となる。

グローバル・リンクが提唱する「ソリューション・キャプティブ®・プログラム」とは、電気機関車が登場する前、蒸気機関車を２両以上連結して険しい山越えをおこなった「重連運転」（俗称「トンボ連結」）のように、「世界最大級の再保険会社と日本の最大級の保険会社（元受保険会社）がキャプティブを『連結器』にして連携、連結して、一見不可能と思えるような『補償の提供』を廉価で可能にするプログラム」ということができるであろう。

コロナ禍の先が見えるようになってきたいま、次なる巨大リスクである首都圏直下大地震、南海トラフ巨大地震等に備えるため、前述の鎌田浩毅京都大学名誉教授の「これまでと違った考え方、行動力を持つ必要があるのです」という警鐘に従って、新たな発想で「キャプティブの設立」を検討する良い機会ではないだろうか。

執筆・翻訳者：羽谷 信一郎

English Translation

Captive (CA) 56 – Noto, Ishikawa, Japan: seismic intensity 7 reported early on New Year’s Day 

For those who prefer to read this column in English, the Japanese text is followed by a British English translation, so please scroll down to the bottom of the Japanese text.

Today is New Year’s Day 2024, a day when relatives and families everywhere in Japan gather to celebrate the New Year over drinks. Shortly after 4pm, the TV broadcast a bulletin breaking up the festivities: ‘Seismic intensity 7 in Noto, Ishikawa: Tsunami warning for coastal areas’.

The Japan Meteorological Agency’s website has the following description: 1.

2. seismic intensity scale

　The JMA has ten seismic intensity classes: intensity 0, intensity 1, intensity 2, intensity 3, intensity 4, intensity 5 (weak), intensity 5 (strong), intensity 6 (weak), intensity 6 (strong) and intensity 7.

This means that the ‘largest earthquake’ occurred today. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, today, 1 January 2024, at around 4:10pm, an earthquake of intensity 7 occurred in Ishikawa Prefecture, and at 4:22pm, a major tsunami warning was issued for Ishikawa Prefecture and tsunami warnings for Yamagata, Niigata, Toyama, Fukui and Hyogo Prefectures. The epicentre was in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, with an epicentre depth of less than 10 km. The magnitude of the quake is estimated at 7.6 on the Richter scale (M).

The Tokai and Nankai Trough earthquakes have been the subject of much talk, but people’s interest in them has gradually waned. The news report made me wonder if we will be safe this year.

At the foreign non-life insurance company I joined after graduating from university, I was given a pivotal position at the head office, where I was in charge of the corporate insurance field nationwide, at a young age and was blessed with excellent supervisors and staff. It was the largest foreign non-life insurance company in Japan, and even at the time had more than 2,000 employees, making it more than a medium-sized non-life insurance company compared to Japanese non-life insurance companies. However, the “head office” was only a “Japan-based head office”, and there was a “real head office” in New York, USA, which controlled the entire world. I don’t know if the expression “up to the chopsticks” is appropriate, but I was in a “pivotal position in the head office”, being controlled by the New York head office in minute detail and feeling a little suffocated.

I was still in my thirties and had been travelling to the New York head office every year since I was a new employee, and had many opportunities to get to know executives at the New York head office, and it was around this time that my desire to work in the global non-life insurance field grew. Although his close friends and acquaintances consoled him, he took up the challenge of going abroad, saying that he really wanted to work in the global non-life insurance field, and was approached by CIGNA Corporation, one of the largest insurance companies in the world at the time, and was fortunate enough to pass an interview with the head office executives in Philadelphia, USA. Fortunately, he passed the interview and went on to work in the captive division at the Philadelphia headquarters.

In the winter of that year, my boss said to me, “You are Japanese, so a New Year’s holiday would be better than a Christmas holiday”, and at the end of 1994, I temporarily returned to Japan for a holiday. I was scheduled to return to Philadelphia on 20 January 1995, after having enjoyed the “Japanese New Year”.

Just then, on 17 January, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck. TV reports from early in the morning continued to show the horrific extent of the damage. When I contacted the president of the Japan base, he told me that he would immediately go to check the damage and survey the payment of damage insurance claims. He replied, “Neither the Shinkansen nor cars are available, but we have finally chartered two helicopters, which will take pictures from the air and use them to assess the damage and prepare to pay the damage insurance claim as soon as possible”.

At the time, CIGNA had two 60-storey head office buildings in downtown Philadelphia, one as its international headquarters and the other as its national headquarters. As noted in a previous column, when I completed an interview at the Philadelphia headquarters, I was taken to the CIGNA Museum (museum) in one of the buildings by the Vice President (EVP), who was instructed by the CEO to “take you to the CIGNA Museum (museum)”. One time. I recall feeling a strong sense of tradition and prestige when he showed me “this is our first insurance policy in 1792, a marine insurance policy on a cargo on a voyage from London to Philadelphia”.

The two similarly shaped 60-storey skyscrapers on the left-hand side of the photo are photographs of buildings CIGNA owned in Philadelphia, one housing the ‘national headquarters’ and the other the ‘international headquarters’, the author’s room being on the 50th floor of the latter. The two similarly shaped 60-storey buildings are shown below.

The two similarly shaped 60-storey skyscrapers on the left of the photo are CIGNA’s buildings in Philadelphia, one housing the National Headquarters and the other the International Headquarters, and my room was on the 50th floor of the latter. It is a picture that shows how huge CIGNA was and how great the It is a picture that shows how huge CIGNA was and how great the company was.

1．Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 17 January 1995, which claimed 6,434 victims and caused the greatest damage in the post-war period, destroying more than 100,000 buildings, also highlighted structural problems within the Japanese Government regarding earthquake disaster prevention measures, which were not centralised and for which there was no ‘command post’. The Japanese Government also highlighted “structural issues related to earthquake disaster prevention measures that are not centralised and for which no ‘command post’ exists”.

In response to these challenges, in July of the same year, the Headquarters for the Promotion of Earthquake Research and Survey (abbreviated as ‘Earthquake Headquarters’) was established within the Prime Minister’s Office (now within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) as a ‘government organisation to promote comprehensive nationwide earthquake disaster prevention measures and to centrally promote earthquake research and survey nationwide’.

The figure below shows the ‘National Seismic Motion Prediction Map 2020’, which has been quoted in many mass media and seen by many people as a ‘seismic motion prediction map’ in the ‘Earthquake Assessment’ category on the website of the Earthquake Research Promotion Headquarters, and shows the ‘probability of being hit by a tremor of intensity 6 or lower in the next 30 years’. The “National Seismic Motion Prediction Map” is a “national seismic motion prediction map” that combines a “seismic motion prediction map specifying the source fault” based on a detailed strong-motion assessment of a certain assumed scenario for a specific earthquake”.

The 2020 edition of the National Seismic Prediction Map

the 2020 edition of the National Seismic Hazard Map.

Probabilistic seismic prediction map

Probabilistic seismic prediction map

Probability of experiencing an earthquake of intensity 6 or greater in the next 30 years

Probability of experiencing an earthquake of intensity 6 lower or greater in the next 30 years

Source: “the 2020 edition of the national seismic prediction map” (Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion).

Source: “the 2020 edition of the National Seismic Hazard Map” (the Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion).

2. Types of earthquakes

Earthquakes can generally be divided into two main types: trench earthquakes (plate boundary earthquakes) and fault earthquakes (direct earthquakes).

Trench earthquakes (plate boundary earthquakes) are those that occur at the boundaries where plates meet. As shown in the diagram below, geologically, the Japanese Islands are separated by the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate, and by the Fossa Magna, the great rift valley, where the western half of the Japanese Islands are separated by the Eurasian Plate and the eastern half, including Hokkaido, by the North American Plate, which is the foundation on which they ride. The western half of the Japanese archipelago is divided by the “Eurasian plate” and the eastern half, including Hokkaido, by the “North American plate”.

(Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website)

The Nankai Trough is where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducted into the Eurasian Plate, which is the foundation that forms the western half of the Japanese archipelago from Kyushu to western Japan, and where there is concern that a major Nankai Trough earthquake could occur. The North American Plate is the foundation of the eastern half of the Fossa Magna, Hokkaido and the Japanese archipelago, while the Philippine Sea Plate on the ocean side is subducted into the North American Plate, and the Sagami Trough, which has caused many earthquake disasters in the Kanto region, including the Great Kanto Earthquake, is where the Pacific Plate is subducting.

The places where the Pacific Plate is subducting into the North American Plate are the Kuril Trench and the Japan Trench, where there are fears of the occurrence of huge trench earthquakes of the Great East Japan Earthquake class.

On the other hand, when the oceanic plate subducts into the land plate, the strain accumulated inside the land plate – the ‘fault’ – shifts, causing an earthquake with a shallow epicentre, known generally as a ‘fault-type earthquake’, or ‘direct earthquake’. As these earthquakes occur directly under residential areas, if the epicentre is shallow, severe localised shaking occurs, causing collapse of houses, fires and other serious direct damage. The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake was a case in point.

The Kanto region is on the North American plate, but the Sagami Trough, formed at the boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate dips beneath the North American plate, was the epicentre of the Great Kanto Earthquake, making the Great Kanto Earthquake a ‘trench-type earthquake’.

Although it tends to be overshadowed by the Nankai Trough earthquake in terms of the size of damage estimates and the spread of damage across the country, it is indisputable that a ‘Metropolitan Area Earthquake’ striking the entire Kanto region would cause extensive damage to Japan’s capital, Tokyo, and could deprive it of its capital functions, making full preparations extremely necessary. The earthquake could cause extensive damage to the Japanese capital and deprive Japan of its capital city functions. However, it appears that the preparations are not yet complete.

3. captive to improve low earthquake insurance coverage

As officially stated by the Government’s Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion, “the likelihood of a major earthquake with the potential to cause extensive damage is high”. Yet, earthquake insurance coverage remains low. What are the reasons for this? One reason may be that insurance premiums are considered to be high. In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the premiums for earthquake insurance in the individual insurance sector are approximately four to five times higher than the premiums for the main fire insurance policy. In the case of earthquake insurance for businesses with very large sums insured, earthquake premiums are very high. However, these earthquake insurance premiums are not determined without any rationale or reason, but are ‘risk-based premiums’.

The same applies to earthquake insurance premiums in the corporate insurance sector. In one case where Global Link provided consulting services for the establishment of a captive and was entrusted with its operation and management, the fire insurance premium for the main policy was 20 million yen for an insurance amount of 80 billion yen, while the earthquake insurance premium was 280 million yen, a difference of more than ten times.

If the earthquake insurance premiums had remained “unfunded”, would people really have purchased earthquake insurance? The answer is no. The reason for the client’s decision to buy earthquake insurance was that the cost of earthquake insurance in real terms had been reduced by the establishment of the captive.

By establishing a captive, one of the world’s largest foreign reinsurers underwrites reinsurance from the captive. In other words, one of the world’s largest foreign reinsurers will ultimately underwrite the earthquake risk. Moreover, the premium for which the world’s largest overseas reinsurer underwrites the risk, i.e. the ‘reinsurance premium from the captive’, is JPY 80 million. As a result, “the entire premium of JPY 280 million is not written off”, and the “difference between domestic and foreign prices” generated by the programme results in a “captive profit” of around JPY 200 million every year.

Summary of this issue

In the book “The Metropolitan Area Earthquake and the Nankai Trough” (MdN Shinsho), written by Professor Emeritus Hiroki Kamata of Kyoto University, there is the following sentence: “The Japanese archipelago is a ‘moving land’ and the Nankai Trough is a ‘moving land’.

Now that the Japanese archipelago has become a ‘moving land’, each of us who live there must accept this fact and ‘wake up’. We need to think and act differently than before.

As mentioned above, the government’s damage forecast in the event of an earthquake directly below the Tokyo metropolitan area assumes a maximum of 11,000 victims, 610,000 houses completely destroyed or burnt down, and economic damage of 95 trillion yen, but Professor Emeritus Kamata says: “The Great East Japan Earthquake has effectively increased the probability of a direct earthquake in the inland areas of eastern Japan, including the Tokyo metropolitan area. The Great East Japan Earthquake has effectively increased the probability of an inland earthquake in eastern Japan, including in the Tokyo metropolitan area,” he warns in the same book.

Despite Japan being an earthquake and tsunami-prone country, it is reportedly still difficult for companies to secure the high levels of coverage they need with the general earthquake insurance products sold by non-life insurance companies in Japan. On the other hand, the existence of huge underwriting capacity in overseas insurance markets means that it is highly likely that companies will be able to obtain high-cost compensation at a low cost, which cannot be provided by general corporate earthquake insurance products in Japan.

The Code of Conduct of the General Insurance Association of Japan states that the social mission of the non-life insurance business is to smoothly operate a mutual assistance system that contributes to the realisation of a secure, safe and sustainable society and to the stability and improvement of the economy and people’s lives.

In other words, non-life insurance companies are required, as part of their social mission, to “provide compensation not only to one particular company, but also to individuals and companies throughout Japan”. It cannot be “an entity that responds to the demands of only one company.” That is why the role of a ‘captive that responds to the demands of only one company’ can be said to be very significant.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, through captives established abroad, the difference in premiums between the primary insurer and the foreign insurer becomes the captive’s profit by securing reinsurance for the captive from the overseas insurance market at a lower price.

Global Link’s ‘Solution Captive® Programme’ is a ‘coupling’ between one of the world’s largest reinsurers and one of Japan’s largest insurers (the primary insurer), like the ‘heavy train operation’ (commonly known as ‘dragonfly coupling’), in which two or more steam locomotives were coupled together to cross steep mountains before the advent of electric locomotives. The “captive” is a programme in which the world’s largest reinsurers and Japan’s largest insurers (primary insurers) are linked together using a captive as a “coupler” to provide seemingly impossible “coverage” at a low cost.

Now that the number of infected people is increasing, but serious illnesses are being prevented due to the weakening of the Omicron strain and reports of mild illnesses caused by vaccination, and that a glimmer of daylight can be seen beyond the covid disaster, we need to prepare for the next huge risks, such as a major earthquake directly under the Tokyo metropolitan area and a major earthquake in the Nankai Trough, as stated by Professor Emeritus Hiroki Kamada of Kyoto University: “…we must be prepared for the next major risk, which is a major earthquake directly under the Tokyo metropolitan area and a major earthquake in the Nankai Trough. This is a good opportunity to consider the establishment of captives based on a new way of thinking, in accordance with the warning bells of the aforementioned Kyoto Professor Emeritus Hiroki Kamata: “We need to think and act differently from the past.

Author/translator: Shinichiro Hatani