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Which insurance and pension am I in? (quiz)

Answer a few questions about yourself and each member of your family. The quiz shows which health insurance and pension each person should be in — the employer’s insurance, as a dependent, or the national system through the city office — and what to do, by when and who files it. The rules include the October 2026 changes for part-time workers.

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Health insurance in Japan

Rules checked against the Japan Pension Service, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and city office websites on October 7, 2026 · Social insurance · Family and dependents

Hours a week: the line for part-timers20

Insured staff the employer needs (36+ from October 2027)51+

Dependent’s income a year, below¥1.3M

To join at the city office14 days

Quiz

My health insurance and pension

Start with yourself, then add your spouse, children and parents. You can print the result or save it as a PDF — for example to show your HR department or the city office. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

In short

Three systems, and who is in which

  • The employer’s insurance — Health Insurance (健康保険, kenkō hoken) and Employees’ Pension Insurance (厚生年金, kōsei nenkin). Your employer enrolls you; the premium is split in half and deducted from your pay.
  • Dependent (被扶養者, hifuyōsha) — a spouse, child or parent with a small income, covered by the worker’s insurance. They pay no premiums, and a spouse aged 20 to 59 gets pension coverage free of charge as a Category III insured person (第3号被保険者).
  • The national system — National Health Insurance (国民健康保険, kokumin kenkō hoken) and the National Pension (国民年金, kokumin nenkin) through the city office, for every other resident: sole proprietors, freelancers, students and people without work.
  • Nationality does not matter. The rules are the same for Japanese and foreign residents; what counts is your job, hours, income, age and address in Japan.

The employer’s insurance

Who is in it

This is the main question of the quiz. Someone who is in the employer’s insurance in their own right can no longer be a dependent.

  • The employer must provide insurance if it is any company (株式会社, 合同会社 or another corporation) — even one where only the director works — or a sole proprietor with 5 or more regular workers (except in some industries, such as agriculture and some services).
  • Full-time. Everyone whose hours and days are at least 3/4 of a regular employee’s is insured. With a 40-hour week that is 30 hours, and the quiz compares your hours with 30. A contract of 2 months or less that is not expected to be renewed is not covered, even full-time.
  • Part-time (短時間労働者, tanjikan rōdōsha) — all of these at once: 20 hours a week or more under the contract, a job expected to last more than 2 months, not a full-time daytime student of a university, college, vocational school (専修学校) or miscellaneous school (各種学校) (evening and correspondence students and students on leave of absence are not excluded), and an employer with enough insured staff — called a specified applicable office (特定適用事業所, tokutei tekiyō jigyōsho).
  • The ¥88,000 wage test was abolished in October 2026. Until September 30, 2026 a contract wage of ¥88,000 a month or more was also needed (the “¥1.06 million wall”). Now only the hours count: at Tokyo’s minimum wage of ¥1,280 an hour (from October 1, 2026), 20 hours a week is already more than ¥88,000.
  • Age. Employees’ Pension Insurance continues up to age 70, and the employer’s health insurance continues. It ends on your 75th birthday, when you move to the medical care system for people aged 75 and over (後期高齢者医療, kōki kōreisha iryō). From 40 to 64, Long-Term Care Insurance (介護保険, kaigo hoken) is added to the health insurance premium.

Employer size for part-timers

The line for the number of insured staff at the employer goes down under the 2025 pension reform law:

When Insured staff at the employer
From October 2024 (now) 51 or more
From October 2027 36 or more
From October 2029 21 or more
From October 2032 11 or more
From October 2035 any size

A smaller employer may also cover part-timers voluntarily. An employer that starts covering part-timers in October 2026 or later — voluntarily or when the line drops to its size — can take over part of their premium for 3 years when the standard monthly remuneration is ¥126,000 or less (保険料調整制度, the premium adjustment system); the government reimburses the employer. This is the employer’s choice, not a duty. Employers that already covered part-timers on October 1, 2026 (51 or more insured) cannot use it.

Employment Insurance (雇用保険, koyō hoken) is separate: it covers every worker with 20 hours a week or more and a contract of at least 31 days, except full-time daytime students, whatever the employer’s size. It pays unemployment benefits and the childcare leave benefit.

Dependents

Who can be added to a worker’s insurance

Only the employer’s insurance has dependents. In National Health Insurance every family member is insured individually.

Condition Rule
Spouse, children, parents, grandchildren, brothers and sisters can be dependents even if they live apart
Other relatives up to the 3rd degree, your spouse’s parents only if they live with you
Income expected for the next 12 months under ¥1.3M; under ¥1.8M from age 60 or with a disability; under ¥1.5M at ages 19–22 (age on December 31; not for a spouse); salary counts with all allowances, commuting allowance and bonuses in the contract
If you live together under half of the worker’s income (an exception is possible if the worker is the main earner)
If you live apart less than the money the worker sends
Address in Japan (registered residence, 住民票); exceptions include study abroad and family accompanying a worker posted abroad
Who cannot people with Designated Activities (特定活動) status for medical treatment or long-term tourism; people aged 75 and over
  • A salary of up to ¥108,333 a month — allowances and contract bonuses included — stays under ¥1.3 million a year. Unemployment benefits, pensions, sick pay and maternity payments count as income too.
  • If both parents work, the child is added to the insurance of the parent with the higher annual income.
  • Pension without premiums (Category III) — only for a spouse aged 20 to 59, when the worker is in Employees’ Pension Insurance, the spouse’s income is under ¥1.3 million (under ¥1.8 million with a disability) and the spouse lives in Japan. If the worker is not in Employees’ Pension Insurance (a sole proprietor, freelancer or student), the spouse pays the National Pension. The same applies when the worker is 65 or older and already entitled to an old-age pension.
  • The employer files it: the dependent notification (被扶養者（異動）届) together with the Category III notification, within 5 days. For a foreign spouse a notification of the name in Latin letters (ローマ字氏名届) is added.
  • Parents who live abroad usually cannot be added to health insurance, but they can count for tax — see relatives abroad.

The national system

Health insurance and pension through the city office

  • National Health Insurance — for every resident staying more than 3 months who is not in the employer’s insurance, students included. It does not accept people staying 3 months or less, or people with Designated Activities status for medical treatment or tourism.
  • 14 days is the deadline to join (after registering your address, leaving a job or the birth of a child) and to leave (once you are in the employer’s insurance).
  • The premium is based on last year’s income, and the head of household (世帯主, setainushi) pays for every family member in this insurance. A reduction for low income is given only if you file an income declaration (所得申告) — even with no income.
  • National Pension — every resident aged 20 to 59 who is not in Employees’ Pension Insurance and not in Category III: ¥17,920 a month from April 2026 to March 2027, ¥18,290 from April 2027. After leaving a job, join within 14 days from the next day. Only foreign nationals with Designated Activities status for medical treatment or long-term tourism are excluded (since April 1, 2020).
  • With a low income you can apply for an exemption (免除, menjo) or a postponement (納付猶予, nōfu yūyo). Students of universities, junior colleges, vocational schools, other schools with a course of a year or more and certified Japanese language institutions can use the Special Payment System for Students (学生納付特例, gakusei nōfu tokurei) — apply every school year (April to March).
  • Just left a job? If you were insured there for at least 2 months in a row, instead of National Health Insurance you can stay in the employer’s health insurance for up to 2 years with optional and continued coverage (任意継続, nin’i keizoku) — apply within 20 days and pay the whole premium yourself.

In detail: health insurance, pension and part-time work for students.

Example

A spouse with a part-time job: 18 or 22 hours a week

You work for a company in Tokyo for ¥300,000 a month. Your spouse, on Dependent status (家族滞在), works part-time for ¥1,300 an hour. We count 52 weeks a year.

18 hours a week 22 hours a week
Pay a month ¥101,400 ¥123,933
Income a year ¥1,216,800 ¥1,487,200
Employer with 51+ insured your dependent, Category III — no premiums own employer’s insurance, premiums about ¥18,499 a month
Employer with 36–50 insured, before October 2027 your dependent, Category III — no premiums National Health Insurance and National Pension (income over ¥1.3M)

At 22 hours the standard monthly remuneration is ¥126,000, and your spouse’s premiums a month are: Health Insurance ¥6,205 (4.925%), child and childcare support contribution ¥145, Employees’ Pension Insurance ¥11,529 (9.15%), Employment Insurance ¥620 (0.5% of actual pay) — ¥18,499 in total. In return your spouse builds up their own Employees’ Pension Insurance record and gets sick pay and maternity benefits. They are no longer your dependent — tell your employer. An employer with 36–50 insured staff that starts covering your spouse from October 2027 may pay part of these premiums for 3 years; an employer with 51+ has no such program.

The “under half of your income” rule does not get in the way here: half of ¥3.6 million is ¥1.8 million. Take-home pay: the calculator; every income line for a spouse in tax: your spouse in Japan.

Deadlines

What happens if you miss them

What When If you miss it
Employer’s insurance for a new employee the employer files within 5 days; you are insured from your first working day ask HR whether it was filed: without it no insurance details notice (資格情報のお知らせ) or Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate (資格確認書) arrives
A dependent in the worker’s insurance 5 days, through the employer without proof of insurance the clinic charges the full cost — you claim the insurer’s share back later
National Health Insurance 14 days premiums are charged back for up to 2 years (3 where the city levies it as a tax); treatment before you join is at full cost
Leaving National Health Insurance 14 days after joining the employer’s insurance treatment paid by National Health Insurance must be repaid
National Pension after leaving a job 14 days from the next day gaps in your pension record
Optional and continued coverage (任意継続; needs 2+ months of insurance) 20 days from the day after you leave only National Health Insurance remains

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.

  • Each person separately. Add your spouse, children and parents to the quiz: each has their own system, and it can change with a new job, new hours or a new income.
  • A spouse with Dependent status (家族滞在) may work up to 28 hours a week with part-time work permission (資格外活動許可). From October 2026, with 20 hours a week or more and a job expected to last more than 2 months at an employer with 51+ insured staff, they join the employer’s insurance themselves and stop being your dependent.
  • Children are dependents with an income under ¥1.3 million (ages 19–22 on December 31: under ¥1.5 million). From age 20 they are in the National Pension; students can postpone it. Child allowance: children in Japan.
  • If you are in National Health Insurance (sole proprietor, freelancer, student) there are no dependents: each family member is enrolled at the city office, and the head of household pays.

Linked to your visa.

  • Unpaid premiums. Cities are due to share National Health Insurance payment data with immigration from June 2027 (planned). Then, with unpaid National Health Insurance and no payment plan, an extension or change of status will in principle be refused.
  • 28 hours. On Student (留学) and Dependent (家族滞在) status you may work up to 28 hours a week with part-time work permission; the quiz warns you if your hours are higher.
  • Permanent residency. Immigration checks your pension and health insurance payments for the last 2 years, and late payments count against you.
  • Social security agreements. If your employer abroad sent you to Japan for up to 5 years and your country has a social security agreement with Japan, a certificate of coverage may exempt you from the Japanese pension — see social security agreements.

Taxes and your visa · Part-time work permission · Extending your period of stay

FAQ

Questions about insurance and pension

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Ask us a question

Do part-time workers have to join the employer’s health insurance and pension in Japan?

Yes, if you work 20 hours a week or more under your contract, the job is expected to last more than 2 months, you are not a full-time daytime student and your employer has 51 or more insured staff (36 or more from October 2027). The ¥88,000 monthly wage test was abolished in October 2026. Anyone working at least 3/4 of full-time hours is insured at any employer that must provide insurance.

Their income expected for the next 12 months must be under ¥1.3 million (¥1.8 million from 60 or with a disability), counting all allowances, commuting allowance and bonuses in the contract, and, if you live together, under half of yours. A spouse with a disability who is under ¥1.8 million is also in Category III of the pension, without premiums. They must also live in Japan and not be in an employer’s insurance in their own right, which from October 2026 can happen at 20 hours a week.

No. A health insurance dependent must have a registered address in Japan; the exceptions cover cases such as study abroad or family accompanying a worker posted abroad, not parents living in their home country. They can still count for income tax if you meet the conditions and have the documents.

Usually National Health Insurance at your city office, joined within 14 days of registering your address. From age 20 you are also in the National Pension, but if your school is eligible you can postpone the contributions with the Special Payment System for Students, applied for every school year.

Within 14 days, join National Health Insurance and, if you are 20 to 59, the National Pension at the city office. Or, if you were insured for at least 2 months in a row, apply within 20 days to keep your employer’s health insurance for up to 2 years with optional and continued coverage, paying the full premium yourself. If your spouse works, you may become their dependent if your expected income is under ¥1.3 million.

Usually the insurance of the parent with the higher annual income. Each parent who is in an employer’s insurance is insured in their own right and is not the other’s dependent.

No. Everything is calculated in your browser. You can print the result or save it as a PDF to show your HR department or the city office.

Sources

Where this information comes from

Rates, limits and deadlines on this page were checked against the official websites of the Japan Pension Service, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Kyōkai Kenpo and city offices 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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