Aflac 2014 Annual Report Download - page 18

Takeda Life
Nobukazu Takeda (left), chairman of Takeda
Life, and Atsushi Suzuki, president of Takeda
Life, view Aflac products as far more than a
sales opportunity. To them, Aflac products
represent an opportunity to make a dierence
in the lives of everyone they touch. Mr. Takeda
has always been medically inclined, as he
comes from a family with several physicians,
including his grandfather, father and uncles. In
1977, just three years after Aflac Japan opened
its doors, Mr. Takeda started with Aflac as an
individual agent who had no experience in
selling insurance. But along with a keen interest
in medicine, he possessed something even
more important: a desire to help save lives by
promoting cancer awareness. He was an early
advocate of wellness checks and sought to
help his customers detect cancer as early as
possible, thus setting the stage for the best
medical outcome possible. To accomplish
this, he partnered with a local cancer center
by helping his customers sign up for an early
detection exam program which was not very
popular at that time in Japan. This demon-
strated his commitment to helping, allowing
him to build trust with his customers. Since then,
with a lot of hard work, dedication and eort, he
has opened Takeda Life as a corporate agency
in 1982. In the spirit of living the legacy of Aflac, Mr. Suzuki, his son-in-law, joined Takeda Life in 1992 after having worked in another
field. He brought yet another valuable perspective of business expertise to the business. In 2005, Takeda Life opened its service
shop in Nagoya, Japan, and they now sell other Aflac products as well, including medical and life insurance. Takeda Life is a success
story that demonstrates how businesses can survive – and even thrive – by helping to provide financial protection in the face of
cancer or other serious illness. Each day, Mr. Takeda, Mr. Suzuki and the employees at Takeda Life live the dream of a startup that
transformed into a thriving business known for its active cancer-awareness activities, deep compassion and empathy for others,
and community involvement. This has led to trust, support and a successful business, all while living the legacy of Aflac.
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The foundation of our product portfolio has been, and continues to be,
supplemental health products, like cancer and medical insurance, that fall into what
is referred to as the third sector insurance category in Japan. Over the last four
decades, we’ve customized our products to respond to the changing needs of
Japanese consumers and advances in medical treatments. Additionally, Aflac sells
various life products that are part of Japan’s first sector insurance category. Our
focus remains on selling third sector products, while the limited sale of first sector
products will be used to facilitate cross-selling of third sector products.