History
Tokyo Fire Insurance Company, Ltd. was established in 1887 as Japan's first fire insurance company. The company worked to cultivate an awareness of fire insurance, and five branch offices were added within a year. The major Yokosuka fire of 1890, however, nearly toppled the fledgling company.
In 1893, Japanese entrepreneur Zenjiro Yasuda absorbed the Tokyo Fire Insurance Company into the Yasuda zaibatsu. Later, in 1944, Tokyo Fire Insurance, Imperial Marine Insurance, and First Engine & Boiler Insurance merged to become the Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company (安田火災海上保険).
Yasuda Fire made a successful bid for Van Gogh's "Sunflower" paintings for about 5.3 billion yen in 1987.
On July 1, 2002, Yasuda Fire and Nissan Fire & Marine Insurance (日産火災海上保険) merged into a new company, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
In December 2002, Sompo Japan acquired Taisei Fire & Marine Insurance.
Read more about this topic: Sompo Japan
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“What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which would be in harmony with the scenery,—for if men read aright, methinks they would never read anything but poems. No history nor philosophy can supply their place.”
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