| Popis: |
In the late Qing and early Min periods, Japanese insurance companies in Shanghai were still in their infancy. As of the present, there is very little research on this topic. As the major media form of the time, the Shenbao Newpaper provides a detailed and highly informative record of the advertisements by the Japanese insurance companies. My study of these advertisements establishes that the number of Japanese insurance companies was very small in comparison to the number of British and American insurance companies. Furthermore, the insurance provided was primarily for damage caused by fl ood and fi re, and that life insurance was rare. Those with life insurance, however, were mostly businessmen and members of the middle class. Businessmen commonly chose the Mitsuyi Company. Most Japanese insurance companies adopted an agent-run mode of operation, and only a few Japanese fi rms came to Shanghai to establish branch companies. Insurance was therefore primarily acquired through brokers. Advertisements of Japanese insurance companies and letters of gratitude in the Shenbao Newspaper from those who had received compensation, played, to some degree, a role in transmitting modern insurance knowledge in Shanghai. |
