COLUMBUS, Ga., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Japan received top honors as the Life Insurance Company of the Year during the ninth annual Asia Insurance Industry Awards held in Singapore on September 26. The leading insurer moved up three spots from 2004 to claim the award this year.

"We are pleased to accept this great honor that highlights our achievements in product innovation and our continual improvement to meet customer needs," said Dan Amos, Aflac chairman and CEO.

Approximately 150 companies qualified for the honor. The list was narrowed down by a panel of over 20 industry experts for the final winner announcement. The award was sponsored by the Asia Insurance Review, a premiere and comprehensive professional insurance industry magazine in Asia.

Earlier this year, the company celebrated 30 years of operation in Japan by hosting nearly 200 Aflac Japan sales associates to various activities held in Columbus, Ga., home of Aflac Worldwide Headquarters. The festivities culminated in the unveiling of a 700-pound pyramid-shaped monument commemorating the anniversary.

Since 1974, Aflac has built one of the leading insurance companies in Japan by focusing on innovations within a niche category of products. Aflac is the second foreign company in history licensed to sell insurance products in Japan. Now, after 30 years of operation, Aflac insures one in four Japanese households. Aflac is the number one life insurance company in Japan in terms of individual policies in force.

Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States and Japan. Aflac's insurance products provide protection to more than 40 million people worldwide and pay cash benefits to policyholders unless they choose otherwise. Aflac's products are primarily sold at worksites in the United States. In Japan, Aflac is the largest life insurer in terms of individual insurance policies in force. In January 2005, Aflac was included in Fortune magazine's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the seventh consecutive year. Aflac has also been included in both Forbes magazine's Platinum 400 List of America's Best Big Companies and in Fortune magazine's listing of America's Most Admired Companies for five consecutive years. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com.

Media Contacts:
Yolonda King
Aflac Incorporated
(706) 243-8547 Voice
(706) 320-2288 Fax
yking@aflac.com

SOURCE Aflac Incorporated