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Social insurance · 社会保険 · shakai hoken

Social insurance in Japan: the two systems

In Japan, health insurance is compulsory for everyone who lives in the country for more than 3 months, and the public pension for everyone aged 20 to 59 and for all employees — foreigners included. Employees are insured through their company, everyone else through the city office. Who is in which system, what it costs, what to do when you change jobs, and why unpaid premiums can hurt your visa.

What you pay

Health insurance

Checked against the websites of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Japan Pension Service and city offices on October 7, 2026 · Pension · Family and dependents

Employee’s share of a ¥300,000 salary (Tokyo, under 40)14.7%

Of medical bills you pay; insurance pays the rest30%

National Pension a month, FY2026¥17,920

To join National Health Insurance after leaving a job14 days

In short

Social insurance in Japan in five lines

  • Compulsory for everyone: nationality does not matter. If you live in Japan for more than 3 months you must have health insurance, and from 20 to 59 you must also be in the public pension system.
  • Employees are insured through the company: health insurance, pension, Employment Insurance and accident insurance. The employer pays half of the premiums (and all of the accident insurance).
  • Everyone else — students, freelancers, the unemployed — joins National Health Insurance and the National Pension at the city office and pays the premiums themselves.
  • Part-time jobs: from October 2026, larger companies must insure everyone who works 20 hours a week or more, whatever the pay (students excepted).
  • Deadlines: when you arrive, move or leave a job you usually have 14 days. Later means back premiums and medical bills paid in full in the gap.

Two systems

Through your job, or through the city office

Everyone in Japan is in one of two systems. Which one is yours depends not on your status of residence but on whether your employer insures you.

Employees

Social insurance through the company

  • Health insurance — Health Insurance (健康保険, kenkō hoken): the Japan Health Insurance Association (協会けんぽ, Kyōkai Kenpo) or your company’s own health insurance society.
  • Pension — Employees’ Pension Insurance (厚生年金, kōsei nenkin), up to age 70.
  • Employment Insurance (雇用保険, koyō hoken): unemployment benefits and childcare leave benefits.
  • Workers’ Accident Compensation Insurance (労災保険, rōsai hoken): the employer pays all of it.
  • From 40 to 64 Long-Term Care Insurance (介護保険, kaigo hoken) is added to the health premium.
  • A spouse and children with a low income are insured free of charge as dependents.

Students, freelancers, the unemployed

National insurance through the city office

  • Health insurance — National Health Insurance (国民健康保険, kokumin kenkō hoken), run by your city or ward.
  • Pension — National Pension (国民年金, kokumin nenkin), ages 20 to 59: a flat ¥17,920 a month (April 2026 – March 2027).
  • You pay the premiums yourself, with payment slips, by bank transfer or by app.
  • There are no dependents: the health premium is charged for every family member and paid by the head of household.
  • Students can defer pension contributions; people with a low income can get reductions.

Who is in which system

Full-time, part-time, students, spouses

Full-time employees

Every corporation (株式会社, 合同会社 and others) must enroll its staff in health insurance and the pension — even if the only person on the payroll is the director. A sole proprietor must do so with 5 or more regular staff (some industries excepted). The worker’s nationality does not matter.

Part-time and short hours

  • If you work at least 3/4 of the hours and days of a full-time employee, any employer that has to provide insurance must insure you.
  • If you work less, you are insured when all of these apply: the company has more than 50 insured staff; your contract is for 20 hours a week or more; the job is expected to last more than 2 months; and you are not a student (evening and correspondence students and students on leave of absence are insured).
  • The pay threshold of ¥88,000 a month (the so-called “¥1.06 million wall”) applied until September 30, 2026. From October 2026 it is abolished — only the hours count now.
  • The company-size threshold is being lowered by law: 36 or more staff from October 2027, 21 or more from October 2029, 11 or more from October 2032, and from October 2035 it disappears.
  • For 3 years from October 1, 2026, companies newly covered by these rules may take over part of a low-paid part-timer’s premium.

Students

A student at a language school, vocational school or university joins National Health Insurance at the city office and, from age 20, the National Pension. Pension contributions can be deferred with the Special Payment System for Students (学生納付特例). With no income, health insurance costs about ¥20,120 a year (Shinjuku, FY2026) — if you file an income declaration. More: part-time work for students and taxes and insurance for students.

Spouses and children

If your spouse is an employee, you can be their dependent: health insurance and the pension cost you nothing as long as your expected income stays under ¥1.3 million a year (under ¥1.8 million from age 60 or with a disability). Above that, you join the national system or your own employer’s insurance. Details below and in Family and dependents.

Who cannot join National Health Insurance: people staying 3 months or less, holders of Designated Activities for medical treatment or long-stay tourism, diplomats and people whose status of residence has expired. From April 2026 some cities may ask newly arrived foreign residents to pay the first year of premiums in advance — each city decides for itself.

What you pay: an example

An employee’s premiums on a ¥300,000 salary in Tokyo

FY2026 rates (Kyōkai Kenpo, Tokyo), employee under 40. The percentages are the employee’s share; the employer pays the same amount again, and more.

Premium Employee rate A month
Health insurance (健康保険) 4.925% ¥14,775
Child and childcare support contribution (子ども・子育て支援金) 0.115% ¥345
Employees’ Pension Insurance (厚生年金) 9.15% ¥27,450
Employment Insurance (雇用保険) 0.5% of total pay ¥1,500
Total a month ≈ 14.7% ¥44,070
Ages 40–64: + Long-Term Care Insurance (介護保険) 0.81% + ¥2,430 → ¥46,500

Health insurance and pension are not calculated on your exact pay but on your standard monthly remuneration (標準報酬月額, hyōjun hōshū getsugaku) — a step in a table. It is recalculated every year from September, based on your average pay for April to June, and earlier if your fixed pay changes by 2 steps or more. So overtime in April to June raises your premiums for a year from September. Employment Insurance is charged on your whole pay, commuting allowance included. Bonuses are charged at the same rates.

Health insurance in other prefectures

Prefecture Total rate Employee share of ¥300,000
Tokyo 9.85% ¥14,775
Kanagawa 9.92% ¥14,880
Chiba 9.73% ¥14,595
Saitama 9.67% ¥14,505
Osaka 10.13% ¥15,195
Aichi 9.93% ¥14,895
Fukuoka 10.11% ¥15,165

These rates apply from the March 2026 premium (normally deducted from April pay); the child and childcare support contribution from the April premium, deducted from May pay. If you are insured through your company’s own health insurance society (健康保険組合), the rate may differ. What is left after taxes: the take-home pay calculator.

If you are not an employee. The National Pension is ¥17,920 a month (¥18,290 from April 2027). National Health Insurance depends on the city and on last year’s income: in Shinjuku it is ¥67,073 a year per adult under 40 plus 10.58% of last year’s income after the deduction for employment income, minus ¥430,000. A worked example is on the Health insurance page.

Unemployment and injuries at work

Two more insurances for employees

雇用保険 · koyō hoken

Employment Insurance

  • Compulsory if your contract is for 20 hours a week or more and at least 31 days. Nationality does not matter.
  • Not for daytime students (with exceptions) or people on a Working Holiday.
  • Employee’s share: 0.5% of pay (April 2026 to March 2027); 0.6% in construction and agriculture.
  • From October 1, 2028 the threshold drops to 10 hours a week.
  • Pays the basic allowance when you lose your job, the childcare leave benefit and training support. How to claim: unemployment benefits.

労災保険 · rōsai hoken

Workers’ Accident Compensation Insurance

  • Covers all workers, part-timers included, and foreigners on the same terms.
  • The employer pays the whole premium; nothing is deducted from your pay.
  • Covers injuries and illnesses caused by work, and accidents on the way to and from work.
  • Treatment at designated clinics (労災指定医療機関) is free. If you cannot work, you get 60% + 20% of your daily wage from day 4; for a work accident the employer pays the first 3 days (60%).
  • You claim at the Labor Standards Inspection Office (労働基準監督署). Treatment and lost-wage claims: within 2 years. More: injured at work.

Deadlines

Changing jobs, moving, leaving Japan

The main rule: when your situation changes, you usually have 14 days to tell the city office.

What When If you miss it
You start at a company your employer files within 5 days the employer’s duty; if you have no insurance details after a few weeks, ask HR
You were in National Health Insurance and become an employee leave it at the city office within 14 days if you used the old insurance, you repay what it covered
You leave a job: keep the company insurance (任意継続) 20 days from the day after you leave this option is gone; only National Health Insurance remains
You leave a job: National Health Insurance 14 days premiums are charged back (up to 2 years; 3 years where the city levies it as a tax, 国民健康保険税), and bills before you join are paid in full
You leave a job, aged 20–59: National Pension 14 days from the day after you leave unpaid months become a debt and count against you for permanent residency
You move to another city 14 days: leave the old city’s insurance and join in the new one premiums are charged back in the new city, and bills before you join are paid in full
You leave Japan for good moving-out notification (転出届) before you leave if you leave on a re-entry permit without it, you stay in the pension system and cannot claim the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment while the permit is valid

If you hold a work status of residence, you must also notify immigration within 14 days when you change employers. What else to do when you leave a job: quitting a job in Japan. Getting pension contributions back when you leave: Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment. If your home country has a social security agreement with Japan, read social security agreements first.

Linked to your visa.

  • Cities are due to share National Health Insurance payment data with immigration from June 2027 (planned), and immigration will use it when you apply to extend or change your status of residence. From then on, unpaid National Health Insurance premiums without an installment plan or an agreement with the city office are, as a rule, a reason to refuse an extension or a change of status of residence.
  • For permanent residency you need proof of pension and health insurance payments for the last 2 years. Late payment counts against you even if the debt has been paid.
  • From April 2027, permanent residency can be revoked for deliberately not paying taxes and premiums. Not paying because of illness or losing your job does not count as deliberate.

Taxes and your visa · Permanent residency · Extending your period of stay

If you have a family

Spouse, children, parents: what changes

A dependent for tax and a dependent for health insurance are two different things with different income limits. All the rules for families: Family and dependents.

  • A spouse and children living in Japan with an expected income under ¥1.3 million a year (ages 19–22: under ¥1.5 million; aged 60 or older or disabled: under ¥1.8 million) can be your dependents in company health insurance — if they live with you, their income must also be under half of yours. There are no premiums for them.
  • A spouse aged 20 to 59 who is your dependent (income under ¥1.3 million a year; under ¥1.8 million with a disability) becomes a Category III insured person (第3号被保険者) in the pension system and pays nothing either. Your employer handles it: the notification is filed within 5 days.
  • National Health Insurance has no dependents. A premium is charged for every family member (50% less for preschool children) and paid by the head of household.
  • Parents and other relatives who live abroad cannot be dependents in Japanese health insurance: a dependent must, as a rule, live in Japan.
  • A spouse with Dependent status and a part-time job of 20 hours a week or more, at a company with more than 50 insured staff and for more than 2 months, gets their own insurance from October 2026 whatever the pay — and stops being your dependent. Work limits on that status: Dependent visa.

FAQ

Social insurance questions

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Is social insurance compulsory for foreigners in Japan?

Yes. Everyone who lives in Japan for more than 3 months must have public health insurance, and everyone aged 20 to 59 must be in the public pension system. Nationality does not matter, and private travel or international insurance does not replace it.

Health Insurance (kenkō hoken) is the employee scheme: your employer enrolls you, pays half of the premium and your low-income family members are covered free as dependents. National Health Insurance (kokumin kenkō hoken) is run by your city for everyone else, such as students and freelancers: you join at the city office, the premium depends on last year’s income and is charged for every family member.

In Tokyo in FY2026, an employee under 40 pays about 14.7% of a ¥300,000 salary: 4.925% for health insurance, 0.115% child and childcare support contribution, 9.15% for the pension and 0.5% for Employment Insurance, or ¥44,070 a month. From 40 to 64, Long-Term Care Insurance adds 0.81%.

From October 2026, yes, if you work 20 hours a week or more at a company with more than 50 insured staff, the job is expected to last more than 2 months and you are not a full-time student. The old ¥88,000 monthly pay threshold was abolished. Anyone working at least 3/4 of full-time hours is insured at any employer that must provide insurance.

Students join National Health Insurance at the city office; with no income and an income declaration filed, it costs about ¥20,120 a year in Shinjuku. From age 20 students are also in the National Pension, but they can defer the contributions with the Special Payment System for Students, applied for every year.

Within 14 days, join National Health Insurance and, if you are 20 to 59, the National Pension at the city office. Alternatively, within 20 days you can keep your company health insurance for up to 2 years by paying the full premium yourself, or become the dependent of a working spouse if your expected income is under ¥1.3 million a year.

Yes. Cities are due to share National Health Insurance payment data with immigration from June 2027 (planned), and then unpaid National Health Insurance without an installment plan is, as a rule, a reason to refuse an extension or change of status. For permanent residency you need proof of 2 years of pension and health insurance payments, and late payment counts against you.

Usually yes, with the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment, if you were insured for at least 6 months and claim within 2 years of leaving. But claiming it erases your Japanese coverage periods, so if your country has a social security agreement with Japan that totalizes pension periods, check whether keeping them is worth more.

Study → Find a job → Work → Taxes → PR or leave

From student to working in Japan — and where you are on the way

  1. Studylanguage school · part-time up to 28 h a week
  2. Find a jobresume, interviews, shūkatsu
  3. Workcontract, pay, your first 30 days
  4. Taxestaxes, insurance and pensionYou are here
  5. PR or leavea clean record for PR — or the pension refund

Sources

Where this information comes from

Rates, limits and deadlines on this page were checked against the official websites of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Japan Pension Service, Kyōkai Kenpo, city offices and the Immigration Services Agency on October 7, 2026. Amounts are in Japanese yen. When a rule changes we update the page and the date above.

This page is general information. Your employer, the health insurance association, the Japan Pension Service and your city office decide your actual premiums and benefits. A Labor and Social Security Attorney (社会保険労務士, sharōshi) can help with a dispute.

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