Japan Pension (Nenkin): What You Pay and Get Back

Last updated: 17 October 2026 · the Japan Pension Service’s pages · premiums for the year from April 2026

Everybody aged 20 to 59 who lives in Japan is in the public pension (年金, nenkin), whatever their nationality. An employee pays into employees’ pension (厚生年金, kōsei nenkin): 9.15% of pay up to a cap, with the employer paying the same again, which on a salary of ¥5,000,000 is ¥37,515 a month. Anybody not on an employer’s scheme pays the national pension (国民年金, kokumin nenkin) directly instead. A pension needs ten years of cover; leave Japan without it and you can usually claim part of what you paid back. To see the premium on your own salary, use the take-home calculator.

This is a general explanation. The Japan Pension Service and your pension office are the authority on your own record.

Employees’ pension: 18.3%, split with your employer

The rate is 18.3%, paid half by you and half by your employer. It is charged not on each month’s pay but on a standard monthly remuneration (標準報酬月額): your pay is placed in one of 32 grades from ¥88,000 to ¥650,000, normally on what you earned in April to June, and the grade is used from September. The guide to the October drop explains when it moves.

Because the top grade is ¥650,000, the premium stops rising there: on any pay above it you pay ¥59,475 a month. Bonuses are charged at the same rate, up to ¥1,500,000 a month, with bonuses paid in the same month added together. Employees’ pension already includes the national pension, so nothing else is due for those months.

National pension: if you are not on an employer’s scheme

Students, the self-employed, people between jobs and anybody else aged 20 to 59 living in Japan without employees’ pension pays the national pension themselves. For April 2026 to March 2027 the national pension premium is ¥17,920 a month, the same for everyone. A spouse who is supported by an employee in employees’ pension and is 20 to 59 is covered without paying (第3号被保険者). If your income is low, or you are a student, you can apply to have the premium waived or put off; months with a waiver still count towards the ten years.

What you get: the ten-year rule

The old-age basic pension (老齢基礎年金) is paid from 65 to anybody with at least ten years of cover, counting months paid, months waived and some other periods together. Months in employees’ pension count, and they add an earnings-related pension on top. The pension is paid abroad as well, so leaving Japan does not end it once you have qualified.

Leaving before ten years: the refund

If you leave Japan without ten years, you can claim the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment (脱退一時金) within two years of moving out, as long as you paid for at least six months. It is worked out on the months you paid, counting at most five years of them, and the part from employees’ pension has income tax withheld that you can usually get back through a tax agent. The ten years include periods in a country whose agreement adds periods together: if those already bring you to ten years, you qualify for a pension and there is no refund to claim. Otherwise, two things to weigh first:

• All your Japanese pension cover before the claim is cancelled — not only the five years the payment counts, but every month before it. None of it counts towards a Japanese pension any more, or towards one through an agreement country.
• If you might come back, or might reach ten years later with periods in an agreement country, keeping the record can be worth more than the refund.

How much it is, and how to claim it and the tax, are in the guide to the pension refund and your last taxes.

Social security agreements

Japan has social security agreements in force with 24 countries, among them the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, India, China, Korea and the Philippines. They do two things:

• No double premiums. Somebody sent to Japan by an employer at home for a limited period, usually up to five years, can stay on the home scheme with a certificate of coverage and pay nothing into the Japanese pension.
• Periods added together. Years in the two countries can be counted together to reach each country’s minimum, so a few years in Japan can still lead to a small Japanese pension. The agreements with the United Kingdom, Korea, China and Italy cover double premiums only, not this.

Which schemes each agreement covers differs; the Japan Pension Service lists them country by country.

Questions people ask

Do foreigners have to pay into the Japanese pension?

Yes. Anybody aged 20 to 59 who lives in Japan is covered, whatever their nationality, and an employee is enrolled through the employer. The exception is somebody on a short posting from a country with a social security agreement, who can stay on the home scheme with a certificate.

Do I pay national pension on top of employees’ pension?

No. Employees’ pension includes the national pension, so the premium on your payslip is all you pay. You pay the national pension yourself only for months you are not on an employer’s scheme.

Should I take the refund when I leave Japan?

If periods in an agreement country already bring you to ten years, there is no refund: you qualify for a pension instead. Otherwise it depends on whether you could reach ten years later. The refund gives back part of what you paid, but all your Japanese cover before the claim is cancelled, even the years beyond the five it pays for, so none of it counts towards a pension, here or through an agreement country.

Sources

• Japan Pension Service — 厚生年金保険料額表 (18.3%, half each; the grades from ¥88,000 to ¥650,000). Japanese.
• Japan Pension Service — 賞与にかかる保険料 (bonuses in the same month added together and capped at ¥1,500,000 for pension). Japanese.
• Japan Pension Service — 国民年金保険料 (¥17,920 a month for April 2026 to March 2027). Japanese, opened 17 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 老齢基礎年金の受給要件 (ten years of paid, waived and other periods; from 65). Japanese, opened 17 October 2026.
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — 社会保障協定の締結状況 (24 in force as of 2 June 2026); Japan Pension Service — Status of Agreements in Force (the United Kingdom, Korea, China and Italy: double premiums only). Opened 17 October 2026.