Every resident of Japan aged 20 to 59, of any nationality, belongs to the National Pension. Members fall into three categories. Category 1 covers the self-employed, students, freelancers and people between jobs, who pay a flat premium themselves. Category 2 is employees in the employees' pension, whose contributions through payroll cover the National Pension as well. Category 3 is the dependent spouse of a Category 2 member, who is covered without paying; since April 2020 that spouse must normally live in Japan.
For fiscal 2026 the Category 1 premium is 17,920 yen a month. Paying in full for 40 years earns the full old-age basic pension, 70,608 yen a month in fiscal 2026 for people born on or after 2 April 1956, from age 65. At least ten years of coverage are needed to qualify at all. Students and people on low incomes can apply for deferral or exemption, which keeps their record intact.
The base pension is modest on its own. Employees receive the earnings-related employees' pension on top, which is why moving from employment to self-employment, or leaving a job without a new one, makes a real difference to a pension record.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Gaps between jobs are the employee's problem, and yours later. Someone who leaves one employer and starts with you a month later should have switched to Category 1 in between. Unpaid months show up on the record at a permanent residency application.
- Contractors pay their own. Senior people engaged as individual consultants rather than employees pay the flat premium and their own health insurance, and have no employees' pension.
- Spouses of foreign staff may be covered. A non-working spouse living in Japan can be Category 3 at no extra cost to the employer.
- Short-stay staff can reclaim contributions. Foreign nationals who leave without qualifying can claim the lump-sum withdrawal payment.
Sources
- National Pension Act, Articles 7, 26, 27 and 87.
- Japan Pension Service, National Pension premium for fiscal 2026 and pension amounts from April 2026.