2006 News Releases

Elementary School Students Will Operate Cap Shops as Shop Owners

Tokyo - Junior Achievement of Japan (Headquarter: Minato-ward, Tokyo, Head Director: Takeo Shiina) is inviting elementary school students nationwide to apply for the “Manulife CAPS Contest” to be held in November and December in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. This program is organized by Junior Achievement of Japan and receives special support from Manulife Life Insurance Company (Head Office: Kokuryo, Chofu City, Tokyo, President & CEO: Geoff Crickmay).

The “Manulife CAPS Contest” is a business management simulation program developed by Junior Achievement for students in the fifth through the ninth grades. The program is quite unique, with children working together in teams and discussing how a virtual cap shop should be managed.

During the contest portion of the seminar, elementary school students will compete with each other as teams. The members of each team will discuss and decide key points such as what prices to charge for caps, how many caps should be laid in stock, how much should be spent on advertising, and what sort of machine should be rented to do embroidery work on the caps, etc. Once decisions are made, the information will be inputted into a computer. After all the teams have inputted their decisions, each team’s business performance data will be outputted. Using that performance data, each team will work out a strategy for the next round, after which performance data will be outputted once more.

Through this iterative effort, the students will gain practical experience, learning how economies function in the real world and learning the difficulty and joy of making money. More importantly, however, they will also understand the importance of decision-making ability. They will learn courage in expressing opinions different from those of others, tolerance in listening to opinions different from their own, and grow in leadership, teamwork, and other qualities they will need later in life.

Through Manulife Japan’s sponsorship, Junior Achievement of Japan is offering the “CAPS” program to schools free of charge to make it part of their regular classes. By organizing the “Manulife CAPS Contest” as the symbol of the “CAPS” program, Junior Achievement of Japan expects further dissemination of the program to schools across Japan.

About Junior Achievement of Japan
Junior Achievement (JA), founded in 1919, is a not-for-profit organization which has had great success worldwide in the field of economics education. Junior Achievement of Japan was established in 1995, and since that time educational tools developed by JA have been well accepted by schools throughout Japan.

JA Japan provides a wide range of support and encouragement for young people, helping them to develop the fundamental qualities required to be good citizens in their communities, to understand the structure of the world community and global economics, and to make informed, intelligent decisions about their future with confidence, even in the face of ever-changing social conditions.

About Manulife
Manulife Life Insurance Company (“Manulife Japan”), a member company of the Manulife Financial group, holds a top-class "AA+" credit rating from Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s most prestigious credit rating agencies (as of September 2006).

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$370 billion (US$332 billion) as at June 30.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘0945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com. Manulife Japan can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.co.jp.

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