Hoken Direct

What Hoken Direct does

Hoken Direct (株式会社保険ダイレクト) is a Tokyo-based insurance agency operating as a dedicated agent (専任代理店) of Aflac (アフラック生命保険株式会社), one of Japan's largest life and cancer insurance providers. Founded on February 25, 2019, the company delivers phone-based insurance consultation and post-sale support for Aflac's individual product portfolio, which spans cancer insurance, medical insurance, income protection (休職保険), death insurance, and nursing care insurance. The company was reorganized as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hoken Mishu Honpo Group (株式会社保険見直し本舗グループ) in July 2019, giving it access to the parent's national infrastructure of approximately 350 retail insurance shops and a 400+ seat call-center operation.

Hoken Direct's business model is commission-based: it earns transaction fees on Aflac policies sold and renewed, with all customer consultations provided free of charge. Distribution depends primarily on inbound calls to dedicated toll-free lines (0120-613-125 and regional numbers) at the Shinjuku headquarters and five regional sales offices in Osaka, Wakayama, Ikebukuro, Sendai, and Morioka. A proactive follow-up call program (フォローコール / アフターフォロー) drives post-sale retention through benefit-claim notifications and policy reviews. The firm broadened its GTM in 2021 with online video consultations via Zoom and Microsoft Teams and a website-based document request portal. Pricing is freemium-style at the consumer level: zero customer fees offset entirely by Aflac commissions.

Beyond agency services, Hoken Direct operates a secondary business offering insurance-agency succession and M&A (営業権譲渡及びM&Aサービス), onboarding competing Aflac agencies through acquisition. The company holds Privacy Mark certification from JIPDEC (November 2020 through November 2026), is listed in the FSA's customer-first business operators registry, and has been consecutively recognized as an outstanding Aflac associate agency (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024). As of April 2026, Hoken Direct reported 79 employees and ¥50,000,000 in capital. Its disclosed technology stack consists of standard communications tooling and call monitoring for compliance; no proprietary technology platform is described.

Name

Hoken Direct

Legal name

株式会社保険ダイレクト

Website

https://hoken-direct.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Hoken Direct is a Tokyo-based dedicated Aflac agent providing phone-based insurance consultation, policy maintenance, and claim assistance to individual Japanese consumers. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hoken Mishu Honpo Group, also offering an insurance agency succession and M&A service.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Insurance Agency Services

NAICS

Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (52421), Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities (5242)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)

akta.pro primary industry

Simplified Issue Whole Life / UL Insurance (FSAIABAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Universal Life (UL) Insurance (FSAIABAB), Annuity + LTC / Long-Term Care Riders (FSAIAJAC)

Keywords

• Life insurance consulting
• Insurance agency services
• Cancer insurance advisory
• Medical insurance consultation
• Policy administration services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Insurance Agency Commission: Operates as a dedicated (専任) agent of Aflac, earning commissions on insurance policies sold and maintained. Revenue is derived from insurance product sales, policy renewals, and follow-up services including benefit claims facilitation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hoken Direct is an exclusive dedicated agent of Aflac (アフラック) in Japan, providing free phone-based and online insurance consultation to individual customers. The company guides customers through insurance contracts, policy modifications, and benefit/claim filings for Aflac's full product range, including cancer insurance, medical insurance, income protection (休業保険), death insurance, and nursing care insurance. It also operates an insurance agency succession and M&A service that acquires books of business from other agencies.

Product overview

Hoken Direct operates as an exclusive agent for Aflac (アフラック), offering a unified phone-based insurance consultation service. The core offering comprises telephone-based insurance consultation, policy administration (保全対応), and post-contract aftercare (アフターフォロー). Customers access services primarily by phone (0120 toll-free lines) or through online channels including Zoom and Microsoft Teams. The company also operates a business succession/M&A service for insurance agencies seeking to transfer their operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hoken Direct Aflac Insurance Consultation Service (アフラック専業代理店保険契約相談) Phone-based insurance consultation service providing individual consumers with personalized advice on Aflac's product portfolio, including cancer, medical, income protection, death, and nursing care insurance, from initial inquiry through contract execution.
• Policy Administration Service (保全対応サービス) Post-contract support service for Aflac policyholders handling contract content changes, insurance claim submissions, premium payment processing, and other contract-related administrative procedures via phone.
• After Follow Service (アフターフォロー / フォローコール) Proactive outbound follow-up service that contacts customers after policy enrollment to confirm contract details, identify unpaid claims or unreceived insurance benefits, and suggest plan adjustments matching the customer's current lifestyle needs.
• Online Video Consultation Service (オンライン相談) Remote insurance consultation service delivered via video conferencing platforms (Zoom and Microsoft Teams) and online form-based consultation booking, allowing customers to receive insurance guidance without visiting a physical office.
• Insurance Agency Succession and M&A Service (営業権譲渡及びM&Aサービス) Business succession service enabling insurance agency operators to transfer or inherit their insurance business to Hoken Direct and its group companies, addressing regulatory compliance burdens, administrative workload increases, and successor shortages in the Japanese insurance agency industry.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Hoken Mishu Honpo Group (株式会社保険見直し本舗グループ)coreOthers · 1 July 2019Hoken Direct is a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Hoken Mishu Honpo Group. The group operates approximately 350 retail insurance shop locations and a 400+ seat call center operation. The subsidiary benefits from the group's national scale, customer referral network, and shared back-office infrastructure.
• Aflac (アフラック人死亡保險株式会社)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 25 February 2019Hoken Direct operates as a dedicated (専任) agent exclusively representing Aflac in Japan. The company provides phone-based and online insurance consultation for Aflac's full product range including cancer insurance, medical insurance, income protection insurance, death insurance, and nursing care insurance. The partnership is formalized through Aflac's MasMarket Sales Department (マスマーケット営業部) located in Tokyo.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hoken Ichiba (保険市場): Online insurance comparison marketplace operated by Advance Create. Directly comparable to Hoken Direct's digital consultation and document-request funnel for insurance product distribution in Japan.
• Advance Create: Listed Japanese insurance agency (TSE: 9268) operating multi-carrier shops nationwide, including online comparison under the 保険市場 brand. Directly comparable to Hoken Direct as a Japan-domiciled intermediary earning commissions across multiple carriers and channels.
• WebCrew: Operates the Zenin Hoken (ゼニイン) online insurance platform. Listed Japanese insurance intermediary with comparable digital distribution and multi-carrier agency business; directly competitive with Hoken Direct's online consultation channel.
• Hoken-no-Madoguchi (Mycket): Operates the 保険の窓口 nationwide chain of multi-carrier insurance consultation shops. Highly comparable to Hoken Direct as a Japan-domestic intermediary combining in-person and remote insurance consulting across multiple carrier products.
• Hoken Clinic: Multi-carrier insurance comparison and consultation agency operating physical and online channels in Japan. Comparable in business model as a domestic insurance intermediary using comparison-driven consulting rather than single-carrier focus.

Broad incumbents

• MetLife Japan: Major foreign-affiliated Japanese life insurer with broad agency and direct distribution. Comparable as a large incumbent carrier whose products and agency network compete for the same individual life and health insurance demand that Hoken Direct serves.
• SOMPO Himawari Life: Major Japanese life insurer within the SOMPO Holdings group, offering direct and agency-distributed life and health products including cancer and medical insurance that overlap with Aflac's product range sold through Hoken Direct.
• Japan Post Insurance (Kanpo Seimei): State-affiliated Japanese life insurer with massive distribution through the post office network. Sets the incumbent benchmark for nationwide insurance distribution and competes for the same household-level life and nursing care policy demand.

Emerging players

• Lifenet Insurance: Listed Japanese direct-to-consumer online life insurer (TSE: 7157). Disrupts traditional agency-led distribution with a fully digital, low-fee model; competes for the same end consumer that Hoken Direct serves through phone and video consultation.

Others

• Aflac Japan: Carrier partner of Hoken Direct and one of Japan's largest life insurers. Comparable not as a competitor in intermediation but as the upstream principal whose direct sales force and product strategy directly shape Hoken Direct's economics and addressable market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hoken Direct