Japan Post
Japan Post (日本郵政公社) is the former national postal service operator of Japan. The current operator, Japan Post Holdings, is generally known by the same name.
Contents
History
Japan Post
Japan Post was established in 2003 as a state owned corporation. It replaced the Postal Services Agency of the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts, and Telecommunications. This was the first step in Koizumi's larger plan to completely privatize the postal service.
Privatization was motivated by perceptions of corruption and inefficiency, and was seen as an opportunity to curb government deficit spending. It was controversial largely due to the postal service being the largest employer in Japan; in particular its employees were seen as a power base for the LDP. Koizumi pushed the privatization bill through the diet by calling early elections in 2005.
On October 1st, 2007, Japan Post was split into four service-oriented divisions.
Japan Post Holdings
Japan Post Holdings was established in 2006 as a privately held (by the Japanese government) company. Japan Post (as well as Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance) became a subsidiary on October 1st, 2007.
Japan Post Holdings, Japan Post Bank, and Japan Post Insurance were all publicly listed in November 2015. By October 2021, the Japanese government was no longer the majority shareholder.