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- You must have paid at least 6 months of pension contributions, and you must not hold Japanese nationality.
- You can only claim after you have left Japan and your residence registration has been removed — and within 2 years of that date.
- The Employees' Pension payment is calculated as average standard remuneration × payment rate. The rate is capped at 60 months of contributions.
- 20.42% is withheld as tax before the money reaches you. You can often reclaim this by filing a tax return through a tax agent appointed before you leave.
- Claiming erases that pension record permanently. Think carefully if you may return to Japan, or if your country has a social security agreement with Japan.
What is the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment?
To receive a Japanese old-age pension you normally need 10 years (120 months) of coverage. Most people who work in Japan for only a few years leave without ever reaching that threshold, so the contributions deducted from their pay would otherwise produce nothing.
The Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment (脱退一時金, dattai ichijikin) exists for exactly that situation. It returns part of what you paid into the National Pension or the Employees' Pension after you leave Japan. It applies to both schemes, and most foreign nationals who worked in Japan are eligible.
In April 2021 the cap on the number of months used in the calculation was raised from 36 months (3 years) to 60 months (5 years). This followed the creation of the Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能) status, which allows stays of up to five years.
Important: the 60-month cap only applies if you have coverage on or after April 2021. If your final contribution month was March 2021 or earlier, the old 36-month cap still applies to you.
Who can claim: the five conditions
You must meet all five of the following.
- You do not hold Japanese nationality. Japanese nationals are not eligible.
- You have at least 6 months of contributions. Periods where contributions were exempted or waived do not count towards this.
- You no longer have an address in Japan. Your residence registration must have been removed. You cannot claim while you are still registered as living in Japan.
- You have never received a Japanese pension. This includes old-age, disability and survivors' benefits.
- You claim within 2 years. The clock starts the day after your residence registration is removed. Once the two years pass, the right is lost and cannot be restored.
Permanent residents cannot claim this payment. More importantly, claiming permanently erases the pension record for that period — it cannot be undone or reinstated later.
If you may return to Japan to work, or if your home country has a social security agreement with Japan, that erased period may have been worth more to you than the cash. Read the section on agreement countries below before you decide.
How the payment is calculated (Employees' Pension)
The formula is short, but the term "payment rate" is where most explanations go wrong.
Payment = average standard remuneration × payment rate
(payment rate = 18.3% × 1/2 × the number for your coverage period)
The 18.3% is the Employees' Pension contribution rate, split evenly between you and your employer. The × 1/2 is already included in the payment rate — do not halve the result again.
Payment rate table (final month April 2021 or later)
| Coverage period | Number used | Payment rate |
|---|---|---|
| 6 to under 12 months | 6 | 0.5 |
| 12 to under 18 months | 12 | 1.1 |
| 18 to under 24 months | 18 | 1.6 |
| 24 to under 30 months | 24 | 2.2 |
| 30 to under 36 months | 30 | 2.7 |
| 36 to under 42 months | 36 | 3.3 |
| 42 to under 48 months | 42 | 3.8 |
| 48 to under 54 months | 48 | 4.4 |
| 54 to under 60 months | 54 | 4.9 |
| 60 months or more | 60 | 5.5 |
Rates are rounded to one decimal place. The number used is capped at 60.
The basis for the calculation is not just your monthly salary. For coverage from April 2003 onwards, standard bonus amounts are added in and the total is divided by the number of months of coverage. If you received large bonuses, your payment will be higher than a salary-only estimate suggests.
Calculator
Move both sliders to see the amount before tax, the 20.42% withheld, what actually lands in your account, and how much you may be able to reclaim.
Estimate based on the Japan Pension Service formula. Your actual payment is calculated by the Japan Pension Service from your own contribution record. Under 6 months of coverage is not eligible, and the number of months used is capped at 60.
The 20.42% tax — and how to get it back
The Employees' Pension portion of your payment has 20.42% income tax withheld at source before it is transferred. On a ¥1,650,000 payment that is around ¥336,900 gone.
This is the step most people miss: that tax is often refundable. To claim it you file a final tax return in Japan for the year you received the payment — but as a non-resident you cannot do this from abroad on your own.
A tax agent (納税管理人, nōzei kanrinin) is someone resident in Japan who handles tax filings on your behalf after you leave. It can be a friend, a former colleague, or a tax professional.
You submit a notification of tax agent to your local tax office before departure. Once you have left without appointing one, arranging the refund becomes considerably harder. This single form is the difference between receiving that ¥336,900 and losing it.
Share this with the person who will act for you: we have a detailed guide to the notification, written in Japanese for your tax agent to read — 納税管理人の届出ガイド
If your country has a tax treaty with Japan, you may also be able to reduce the withholding by submitting an application form regarding the tax convention to your tax office.
How to claim: steps and documents
Claims are made by post to the Japan Pension Service.
- Leave Japan and remove your residence registration. File a moving-out notification at your city or ward office. The date your registration ends is when the 2-year clock starts.
- Claim within 2 years. You can send the claim from your home country after you arrive. Do not leave it late — the deadline is absolute.
- Gather your documents:
- The claim form (downloadable from the Japan Pension Service website)
- A copy of your passport showing your name, nationality, date of departure, signature and residence status
- Your pension handbook or another document showing your Basic Pension Number
- Bank details for the account receiving the payment (a non-Japanese account is accepted)
- A document proving your residence registration has been removed
- Post the claim to the Japan Pension Service. If someone in Japan is acting for you, they can submit it on your behalf.
- Wait for payment. Processing usually takes around 3 to 4 months. Remittance fees may be deducted for transfers to overseas accounts.
If you had periods under the Employees' Pension (as a company employee) and periods under the National Pension only (as a student or self-employed person), you must file two separate claims using different forms. Check the Japan Pension Service website for both.
If your country has a social security agreement with Japan
Japan has social security agreements with 24 countries. These agreements come in two kinds, and they lead to opposite conclusions about whether you should claim. Check which one applies to you first.
1. Countries where coverage periods can be totalized (20)
Periods of coverage in Japan and in your home country can be added together to qualify for a pension in either country. Six years in Japan plus five at home counts as eleven, which can meet Japan's ten-year requirement.
Germany, the United States, Belgium, France, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, Switzerland, Hungary, India, Luxembourg, the Philippines, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Austria.
Claiming the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment erases your Japanese coverage for that period, so it can no longer be counted under the agreement. If you are close to qualifying for a pension at home, the erased period may be worth far more over a lifetime than the one-off payment. Check with the Japan Pension Service or your home country's pension authority before you claim.
2. Countries where only double-contribution relief applies (4)
The United Kingdom (Feb 2001), South Korea (Apr 2005), China (Sep 2019) and Italy (Apr 2024).
These agreements exist only to stop you paying pension contributions in both countries during a posting. They do not provide totalization of coverage periods. Since the periods cannot be totalized, keeping the record produces no future Japanese pension for anyone who will not reach the ten-year threshold.
That said, if you may work in Japan long-term in future, bear in mind that the record is erased permanently.
Nationals of countries with no agreement — Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar and others — have no totalization option at all. Agreements and their contents change, so confirm the current position on the Japan Pension Service list of agreements in force.
Frequently asked questions
How is the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment calculated?
Can I claim before I leave Japan?
What happens if I miss the 2-year deadline?
Will claiming affect a future visa or my pension later?
Can I receive the payment into a bank account outside Japan?
Do I need a tax agent to get the 20.42% back?
Work out your own figure
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