Japan¡¯s midsize life insurers are joining their larger peers in avoiding the nation¡¯s superlong government debt.

Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance is among them, keeping its distance from 30-year and 40-year bonds even as yields on Japan¡¯s longest-dated securities slid from record highs.

Those bonds are usually major investment targets for insurers to match their long-term liabilities. But expectations that yields will rise further, as the government boosts spending to stimulate the economy, have kept them away from bond buying.