Japan Post was a government-owned corporation in Japan, that existed from 2003–2007, offering postal and package delivery services, banking services, and life insurance. It had over 400,000 employees and ran 24,700 post offices throughout Japan and was the nation's largest employer. One third of all Japanese government employees worked for Japan Post. As of 2005, the president of the company was Masaharu Ikuta, formerly chairman of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. Japan Post ran the world's largest postal savings system and was often said to be the largest holder of personal savings in the world: with ¥224 trillion ($2.1 trillion) of household assets in its yū-cho savings accounts and ¥126 trillion ($1.2 trillion) of household assets in its kampo life insurance services, its holdings account for 25 percent of household assets in Japan. Japan Post also held about ¥140 trillion (one fifth) of the Japanese national debt in the form of government bonds. On October 1, 2007 Japan Post was privatized following fierce political debate that was settled by the 2005 general election. After the privatization, the Japan Post Group companies operate the postal business. Later in 2010, the privatization was put on hold, and the Japanese Ministry of Finance remains the 100% shareholder.
