Insurance in Japan for Foreign Residents: What's Required and What's Optional

Insurance in Japan for foreigners falls into three tiers: compulsory public health insurance and pension, cover that a vehicle, a prefectural ordinance, or a lease requires or requests, and voluntary products that depend on your household.¹²³⁴ Knowing what the public system already pays is the starting point for deciding which private cover, if any, to add on top.

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Financial Services Agency (FSA) site. This article is general information, not insurance or financial advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed insurance agent (保険募集人, hoken boshūnin) or an independent financial planner (ファイナンシャル・プランナー, FP).

Overview

Japan's medical insurance is built as universal coverage (国民皆保険, kokumin kaihoken) through employee health insurance, National Health Insurance, and a separate system for people aged 75 and over.¹ Foreign residents on a mid- to long-term status of residence join the public tier on the same legal footing as Japanese nationals.⁵⁶

So the answer to "what insurance do I need in Japan" starts with what you already have. Everything beyond that public tier is private or cooperative cover. Some of it is required by statute or ordinance, some is requested by a landlord, and the rest is your choice.

The three-tier map

The table below sorts each product by who, if anyone, requires it. The rest of the article follows the same order.

Tier	Products	Who imposes it
Compulsory public	Health insurance (employee health insurance or National Health Insurance), National Pension or Employees' Pension, long-term care insurance from age 401567	Statute
Required by statute (private)	Compulsory auto liability insurance (自賠責保険, jibaiseki hoken) for every vehicle, including mopeds2	Statute
Required by ordinance	Bicycle liability cover3	Prefectural ordinance, in most but not all prefectures
Requested by contract	Tenant fire insurance (火災保険, kasai hoken), usually with tenant-liability cover4	Landlord, through the lease
Optional at the lender	Group credit life insurance (団信, danshin) on a Flat 35 mortgage8	Lender product, optional on Flat 35
Voluntary	Personal liability, earthquake, voluntary auto, life, medical and cancer, income protection, travel cover91011	Nobody

What this article covers and where the detail lives

This page is a map. It explains what each product does, what the public system already pays in its place, and where the requirement comes from, then points to the dedicated article for each product's rules, costs, and claims.

Compulsory public insurance you already have

Health insurance, pension, and long-term care

If you have an address in Japan and are not covered by employee health insurance (健康保険, kenkō hoken), as a dependant, or by another listed system, you become a member of National Health Insurance (国民健康保険, kokumin kenkō hoken); short-term-resident foreign nationals are excluded.⁵ You must notify the municipality within 14 days of becoming eligible.⁵ The details are in Who Enrolls in National Health Insurance and Shakai Hoken Overview.

At the clinic, working-age patients pay 30% of the covered cost, with 20% before school age, 20% at ages 70 to 74, and 10% at 75 and over (as of 2026-10-10; confirm current figures with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)).¹

Everyone aged 20 to 59 living in Japan who is not in Employees' Pension must join National Pension, through the municipal office.⁶ People who came to Japan for medical treatment or for a long sightseeing stay may fall outside this rule.⁶ See Japan Pension System: Nenkin Overview.

Long-term care insurance (介護保険, kaigo hoken) enrolls you at age 40. From 40 to 64 you can use its services only when the care need results from one of the designated age-related diseases; from 65 you are a full (Category 1) member.⁷ See The Long-Term Care Insurance System (Kaigo Hoken).

The baseline private cover sits on top of

The high-cost medical expense benefit (高額療養費, kōgaku ryōyōhi) caps your monthly out-of-pocket cost for covered treatment by age and income, and refunds anything above the cap.¹² A further reduced cap applies from the fourth month once you hit the cap three or more times within 12 months.¹²

The system was revised from August 2026, adding an annual cap on an August-to-July cycle and revising the monthly limits (as of 2026-07-31).¹² The current amounts are in The High-Cost-Catch (Kogaku Ryoyohi) System.

Costs that public insurance does not cover sit outside this cap and are the real gap; see What Insurance Doesn't Cover.

Employees also have sickness allowance (傷病手当金, shōbyō teatekin). It pays two-thirds of averaged standard monthly pay from the fourth day off work, after three consecutive days off, for up to a cumulative one year and six months per condition.¹³ See Sickness Allowance (Shobyo-Teate-Kin).

National Health Insurance members do not get sickness allowance by default. The National Health Insurance Act lets a municipality provide it by ordinance, but does not require it.¹⁴

If a pension member dies, the survivor's basic pension (遺族基礎年金, izoku kiso nenkin) goes to a spouse with children, or to the children. A "child" here means under 18 (until the March 31 after the 18th birthday), or under 20 with a grade 1 or 2 disability, and unmarried.¹⁵

The survivor's employees' pension (遺族厚生年金, izoku kōsei nenkin) is paid to dependants of a deceased Employees' Pension member and reaches a broader range of survivors than the basic pension.¹⁵ Edge cases for foreign residents are covered in Lump-Sum Withdrawal: Survivors, Disability, and Edge Cases.

Cover required by a lease, an ordinance, or a lender

Tenant fire insurance (kasai hoken)

When you rent an apartment, the landlord normally asks you to take out fire insurance at lease signing.⁴ The policy usually carries a tenant-liability add-on (借家人賠償責任, shakuyanin baishō sekinin), which pays for repairs if you damage the rented unit.⁴

Personal liability cover can be added to the same policy as a rider (特約, tokuyaku).¹⁰ How much cover a lease can demand, and whether you can use your own carrier instead of the one the agency offers, are covered in Fire Insurance and the Carrier-Substitution Trick.

Bicycle liability insurance by prefectural ordinance

Whether you must hold bicycle liability cover depends on the prefecture you ride in. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) issued a model ordinance in February 2019 that places the duty on cyclists, on guardians of minors who ride, and on businesses that use bicycles.³

Prefectures have adopted it unevenly: 34 make cover mandatory, 10 impose only an effort duty (努力義務, doryoku gimu, a non-binding obligation), and 3 have no ordinance (as of 2024-04-01; confirm current figures with MLIT).¹⁶³

Status	Count	Prefectures	As of
Mandatory	34	Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Gifu, Aichi, Mie, Ishikawa, Fukui, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Kagawa, Ehime, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima	2024-04-013
Effort duty	10	Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Ibaraki, Toyama, Wakayama, Tottori, Tokushima, Kochi, Saga	2024-04-013
No ordinance	3	Shimane, Nagasaki, Okinawa	2024-04-013

A personal liability policy covers injuring a pedestrian while cycling.¹⁰ Whether a particular rider satisfies your prefecture's ordinance, and what to check, is covered in Bicycle Insurance: The Mandatory Coverage.

Compulsory auto liability insurance (jibaiseki)

Every vehicle, mopeds included, must carry jibaiseki, and a vehicle cannot pass its shaken (車検, roadworthiness inspection) without it.² Driving uninsured is punishable by up to one year of imprisonment or a fine of up to ¥500,000, plus licence suspension.²

Jibaiseki covers only death and bodily injury to other people, not property damage.² Per-victim payment limits are ¥1.2 million for injury, ¥30 million for death, and ¥750,000 to ¥40 million for permanent disability depending on grade and care need (as of 2026-10-10).¹⁷

New jibaiseki rates apply from 2026-11-01

New jibaiseki base rates were filed with the FSA on 2026-04-30 and apply to policies starting on or after 2026-11-01 (as of 2026-10-10).¹⁸ For a policy that starts around that date, such as one bought at a shaken, the start date decides which rates apply.

What voluntary auto insurance adds on top is covered below and in Compulsory and Voluntary Auto Insurance.

Group credit life insurance on a mortgage (danshin)

Group credit life insurance (団体信用生命保険, dantai shin'yō seimei hoken, or danshin) pays off a mortgage if the borrower dies or meets other specified conditions. On Flat 35, the Japan Housing Finance Agency's fixed-rate loan, joining is optional: borrowers who cannot join for health or other reasons can still use the loan.⁸

The Flat 35 scheme accepts applicants aged 15 to under 70, subject to the underwriting insurer's approval. It pays off the loan on death or on certification of a grade 1 or 2 physical disability, and cover runs to the end of the month of the 80th birthday (as of 2026-10-10).⁸

These terms are specific to Flat 35; for other lenders, see Mortgages for Foreign Residents.

Voluntary insurance, type by type

Each product below is described by what it pays for and what the public system already covers in its place. None of it is required, and which products make sense depends on your household.

Personal liability cover (kojin baisho sekinin hoken)

Personal liability insurance (個人賠償責任保険, kojin baishō sekinin hoken) pays when you are legally liable for injuring someone or damaging their property in daily life.¹⁰ The General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ) gives examples such as hitting a pedestrian on a bicycle, breaking goods in a shop, or a pet dog biting someone.¹⁰

It is usually sold as a rider on auto, fire, or personal accident insurance, and one policy can cover accidents caused by family members.¹⁰ Because it covers cycling accidents, it is also the cover to check first against a bicycle ordinance, subject to the prefecture's own rules.

Let the insurer handle the settlement

If you agree a settlement with the victim without involving your insurer, the insurer may refuse to pay.¹⁰ Contact the insurer before discussing compensation.

Earthquake insurance (jishin hoken)

Earthquake insurance (地震保険, jishin hoken) can only be attached to a fire insurance policy. It covers residential buildings and household contents against earthquake, volcanic eruption, and resulting tsunami, with the government reinsuring the scheme.⁹

The insured amount is set at 30% to 50% of the fire insurance amount, capped at ¥50 million for a building and ¥10 million for contents (as of 2026-10-10; confirm current figures with the Ministry of Finance).⁹ For policies starting on or after 2017-01-01, it pays 100% of the insured amount for a total loss, 60% for a major partial loss, 30% for a minor partial loss, and 5% for a partial loss (as of 2026-10-10).⁹

Total payments per event are capped at ¥12 trillion (as of 2026-10-10).⁹ Discounts of 10% to 50% apply based on construction year, seismic grade, or quake-resistant features (as of 2026-10-10).⁹ Rates and claims are covered in Earthquake Insurance (Jishin Hoken) and Earthquake Insurance Claims in Japan.

Voluntary auto insurance (nin'i hoken)

Voluntary auto insurance (任意保険, nin'i hoken) fills what jibaiseki leaves out: damage to other people's property, and liability above the statutory limits.² See Compulsory and Voluntary Auto Insurance.

Life insurance (seimei hoken)

Life insurance (生命保険, seimei hoken) pays a sum on the insured person's death. The main categories are term life (定期保険, teiki hoken), which covers a set period, and whole life (終身保険, shūshin hoken), which covers for life.

The public baseline is the survivor's pension described above, which for the basic pension reaches only a spouse with children or the children themselves.¹⁵ Private life cover is sold to fill whatever gap the survivor's pensions leave, and that gap depends on the household's income and dependants.

Life cover is widespread in Japan. In the Japan Institute of Life Insurance (JILI) 2024 survey, 89.2% of households of two or more people and 45.6% of single-person households held life insurance or life kyosai, with average death cover of ¥19.36 million for households of two or more (as of 2024-11-25).¹⁹

Medical and cancer insurance (iryo hoken, gan hoken)

Private medical insurance (医療保険, iryō hoken) and cancer insurance (がん保険, gan hoken) pay set amounts on hospitalization, surgery, or diagnosis, on top of public insurance.

The high-cost benefit already caps your out-of-pocket cost for covered treatment,¹² so these products matter mainly for costs that public insurance does not cover, described in What Insurance Doesn't Cover. Lost income during treatment is the other gap, covered under income protection below.

Income protection insurance (shugyo funo hoken)

Income protection insurance (就業不能保険, shūgyō funō hoken) pays a regular benefit while illness or injury keeps you from working.

This is where the public baseline differs most by employment type. Employees on employee health insurance receive sickness allowance, while National Health Insurance members, which includes most freelancers, get it only where their municipality has created it by ordinance.¹³¹⁴ See Health Insurance and Pension for Freelancers.

Overseas travel cover for residents

This section covers residents leaving Japan temporarily, not visitors to Japan. Japanese public insurance, both employee health insurance and National Health Insurance, partly reimburses unavoidable treatment abroad through the overseas medical expense benefit (海外療養費, kaigai ryōyōhi), but only after you have paid and applied.²⁰²¹

The reimbursement is based on what the same treatment would cost in Japan, or the amount you actually paid if that is lower, minus your normal co-payment share.²⁰²¹ Only treatment that public insurance covers in Japan counts; non-covered treatment, private-room charges, and massage are excluded, as are trips made for the purpose of treatment.²⁰²¹

The claim works as follows. Foreign-language medical documents and receipts need a Japanese translation that shows the translator's name, address, and phone number.²⁰²¹

The yen amount is converted at the selling rate on the date the payment decision is made.²⁰²¹ Kyōkai Kenpo (全国健康保険協会, Japan Health Insurance Association) cannot send the money directly overseas, and its review usually takes several months.²⁰

Overseas treatment claims expire after two years

The right to claim kaigai ryōyōhi lapses two years after the day following your payment to the provider.²⁰²¹ Keep the receipts and medical documents from the trip, and file once you are back.

Private travel insurance is the other source of cover for treatment abroad. Some credit cards include it, but conditions differ by card and some cover applies only when the trip was paid with the card (利用付帯, riyō futai).¹¹ Check what your card covers before you travel.

Kyosai: the mutual-aid alternative

How kyosai differs from commercial insurance

Kyosai (共済, kyōsai) is mutual-aid cover run by a cooperative for its members. The cooperative laws, not the Insurance Business Act, set how these cooperatives are formed, run, and supervised.²²

Supervision follows the law: agricultural and fishery cooperatives fall under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; consumer cooperatives under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; and small and medium enterprise cooperatives under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.²² The Insurance Act, which governs the contract itself, applies to kyosai and insurance contracts alike.²³

Cooperatives can return surplus to members. The prefectural kyosai group pays a surplus refund (割戻金, warimodoshikin) from each year's contributions minus benefits and expenses, whether or not you claimed that year.²⁴

The main kyosai providers

Each provider has its own membership rule, usually tied to where you live or work, and most ask for a small capital contribution (出資金, shusshikin) that makes you a member.

Kokumin Kyosai co-op (こくみん共済 coop) is the nickname adopted from June 2019 by Zenrosai (全労済), whose formal name is unchanged.²⁵²⁶ It is a consumer co-op federation approved by MHLW.²⁶

You can join if your address is in the area of a member prefectural co-op, or with the co-op's approval if you work there, by buying shares at ¥100 each, with at least 10 shares (¥1,000) requested (as of 2026-10-10; confirm current figures with Kokumin Kyosai co-op).²⁷²⁸ The capital is refunded in full when you withdraw after cancelling all contracts, lose eligibility, or die.²⁸

CO-OP Kyosai (CO・OP共済) is run by a federation of consumer co-ops. You join by paying capital and becoming a member of the local co-op where you live.²⁹

Prefectural kyosai (都道府県民共済, todōfuken-min kyōsai) operates in all 47 prefectures, under the name Zenkoku Kyosai (全国共済) in Kanagawa.²⁴ It is a business under the Consumer Cooperatives Act approved by MHLW.³⁰ Eligibility is set by each prefectural co-op: Aichi's life kyosai accepts healthy applicants up to age 69 who live or work in the prefecture, while Tokyo's comprehensive plan (総合保障型, sōgō hoshō-gata) accepts healthy applicants aged 18 to 64 (as of 2026-10-10).³¹³²

JA Kyosai (JA共済) is run by agricultural cooperatives. People who do not farm can use it as associate members (准組合員, jun-kumiaiin) with a capital contribution, or as non-members (員外利用, ingai riyō) within a limit on each JA's non-member use.³³

None of these providers' membership pages states a nationality condition. The stated criteria are area of residence or work, age, health, and capital, but silence on nationality is not a confirmation, so ask the provider directly.^27293133

Buying insurance as a foreign resident

Visa-status and residence-period screens

Eligibility rules for foreign nationals are set by each insurer and vary widely. Two published examples show the range.

ORIX Life considers applications from foreign nationals only after confirming that the policyholder, insured person, and beneficiary have lived in Japan continuously for two years or more and hold permanent residency (as of 2026-10-10; confirm current conditions with the insurer).³⁴ Lifenet Life accepts applications from foreign nationals who live in Japan (as of 2026-10-10).³⁵

Living in Japan at the time of application is itself a condition at Lifenet (as of 2026-10-10).³⁶ Other insurers set their own screens, so check the conditions of each policy you consider.

Japanese-language applications, disclosure, and claims

Language is a second screen. ORIX requires enough Japanese to understand the application, the health disclosure form (告知書, kokuchisho), and the policy documents, and Lifenet provides documents and customer service in Japanese only (as of 2026-10-10).³⁴³⁵

If you cannot read the application or disclosure form confidently, ask the insurer or agent before signing how they handle applicants who need language support.

Group cover through an employer

Some employers arrange group insurance (団体保険, dantai hoken), such as group term life (団体定期保険, dantai teiki hoken), for their staff. Premiums tend to be lower than for individually contracted life insurance.³⁷

Cover in principle ends when you leave the group. In some cases it can be continued to a set age, or converted to an individual policy.³⁷

Checking that an insurer is licensed

The FSA publishes registers of licensed life insurers, non-life insurers, small-amount short-term insurers, and insurance brokers (保険仲立人, hoken nakadachinin), each updated separately (as of 2026-10-10).³⁸ Brokers appear as their own category, separate from insurers.³⁸

A foreign insurer without a branch in Japan must not conclude insurance contracts covering people who live in Japan or property located in Japan, apart from cases set by Cabinet Order or covered by a permission.³⁹ If you want to apply to such an insurer, you must first obtain the Prime Minister's permission.³⁹

Policies from unlicensed foreign insurers can bring a fine

Applying to an unlicensed foreign insurer without that permission is punishable by an administrative fine (過料, karyō) of up to ¥500,000 under Article 337 of the Insurance Business Act (as of 2026-10-10).⁴⁰ The FSA warned on 2024-10-17 that such insurers were soliciting people in Japan, pointing to the same penalty.⁴¹

Cooling-off, complaints, and dispute help

Under Article 309 of the Insurance Business Act, you can withdraw an insurance application or cancel the contract by sending notice in writing or by electronic record.⁴² Electronic notice, such as through a website or by email, has been allowed since the amendment in force from 2022-05-09.⁴³

The right ends once 8 days have passed, counted from the later of the application date and the date you received the cooling-off notice document.⁴² Withdrawal takes effect when you send the notice.⁴² Some life insurers voluntarily allow longer, such as 10, 15, or 30 days, and procedures vary by insurer (as of 2026-10-10).⁴⁴

The statutory sequence runs as follows.

The statute excludes several kinds of contract from cooling-off.⁴²

Excluded case (Art. 309)	What it means
Business purpose	Contracts applied for for business purposes or as a business
Organizational applicant	Applications by an incorporated association or foundation, a statutory corporation, an unincorporated body with a representative, or a national or local government
Short term	Insurance periods of one year or less
Legally required cover	Insurance you are required by law to hold, such as jibaiseki
Cabinet Order cases	Cases the Cabinet Order specifies as posing no risk to the applicant

The Cabinet Order cases include applying at the insurer's or agent's office after giving advance notice of the date and making clear that the visit was to apply, and applying at a place you designated other than the insurer's office or your home.⁴⁵ They also include applying by mail, paying the premium by transfer to the insurer's account (unless the insurer or agent was asked to make the transfer), and contracts that require a medical exam by the insurer's doctor once the exam is complete.⁴⁵

The Cabinet Order further excludes employee asset-formation savings contracts, insurance that secures a debt under a loan, lease, or other contract, and renewals of or changes to an existing contract.⁴⁵ The full rule is in The Cooling-Off (Kuringu-Ofu) Right.

For complaints, Japan uses financial ADR (alternative dispute resolution) bodies. A case is first handled as a complaint between you and the company, and moves to dispute resolution if unresolved; financial institutions must respond to dispute applications.⁴⁶

Body	Covers	Phone	As of
Life Insurance Association of Japan, consultation center (生命保険相談所)	Life insurers	03-3286-2648	2025-09-0946
GIAJ Sonpo ADR Center (そんぽADRセンター)	Mainly domestic non-life insurers	03-4332-5241	2025-09-0946
Hoken Ombudsman (保険オンブズマン)	Mainly foreign non-life insurers	03-5425-7963	2025-09-0946
Small-Amount and Short-Term Insurance Association, consultation office (少額短期ほけん相談室)	Small-amount short-term insurers	0120-82-1144	2025-09-0946
FSA Counseling Office for Financial Services Users (金融サービス利用者相談室)	Referral for financial services generally	0570-016811	2025-09-0946
Consumer Hotline (消費者ホットライン)	Connects you to your local consumer center	188	2026-10-104647

The phone numbers above come from the FSA's ADR list (as of 2025-09-09). Calls to 188 are routed to the nearest local consumer center; consultation is free, but call charges apply from connection (as of 2026-10-10).⁴⁷ See The Consumer Affairs Hotline (188).

Choosing cover by household profile

The table maps common household situations to the public baseline, the cover typically required, and the voluntary products that address a gap in that baseline. It shows which gap each product fills, not what any household should buy.

Household	Public baseline already in place	Cover typically required	Voluntary cover that addresses a gap, and the gap
Single renter	Health insurance with the high-cost cap12; pension	Fire insurance requested by the lease4; bicycle cover if you cycle in a mandatory prefecture3	Personal liability rider, for everyday accidents such as cycling collisions10
Couple without children	Health insurance; pension; survivor's employees' pension where a partner is an Employees' Pension member15	Fire insurance if renting4; jibaiseki if you own a vehicle2	Life cover, since the survivor's basic pension goes only to a spouse with children or the children15
Family with children	Health insurance; survivor's basic pension for a spouse with children or the children15	As above	Life cover to supplement survivor's pensions; one personal liability policy can cover the whole family10
Homeowner	Health insurance; pension	Jibaiseki if you own a vehicle2; danshin optional on Flat 358	Earthquake insurance, which attaches only to fire insurance9
Freelancer or sole proprietor	National Health Insurance, with sickness allowance only where the municipality provides it14	Same as your housing and vehicle situation	Income protection, since National Health Insurance pays sickness allowance only where the municipality provides it by ordinance14

Premiums and tax deductions

What premiums look like where published

Private insurers' prices vary by insurer, product, and the insured person's age, and this article quotes no figures for personal liability, life, medical, income protection, or travel cover, because no official or industry-body bands were found. The table collects the figures that are published, each dated in its own row (as of 2026-10-10; confirm current figures with the General Insurance Rating Organization of Japan (GIROJ) and the relevant kyosai).⁴⁸³²¹⁹

Item	Figure	Basis	As of
Earthquake insurance, Tokyo, ¥10 million insured, 1 year, no discount	¥27,500 (fire-resistant or semi-fire-resistant buildings) / ¥41,100 (other buildings, such as typical wooden houses)	GIROJ base rates of ¥2.75 / ¥4.11 per ¥1,0004849	Rates for contracts from 2022-10-01, still current 2026-10-10
Earthquake insurance, lowest-rate prefectures such as Hokkaido, same terms	¥7,300 / ¥11,200	GIROJ base rates of ¥0.73 / ¥1.12 per ¥1,00048	Rates for contracts from 2022-10-01, still current 2026-10-10
Prefectural kyosai, Tokyo comprehensive plan	¥1,000, ¥2,000, or ¥4,000 a month by type; the ¥2,000 type pays ¥4 million on death from illness (ages 18 to 60) and ¥5,000 a day in hospital for illness	Product page32	2026-10-10
Household life insurance (context, not a band)	Average annual premium of ¥353,000 for households of two or more, including annuities and kyosai	JILI survey19	2024-11-25

Earthquake rates in other prefectures sit between these figures, and some prefectures have lower transitional rates for the "other buildings" class (as of 2026-10-10).⁴⁸

Life and earthquake premium deductions

Premiums you pay can reduce your taxable income through the life insurance premium deduction (生命保険料控除, seimei hokenryō kōjo) and the earthquake insurance premium deduction (地震保険料控除, jishin hokenryō kōjo), claimed at year-end adjustment or on your tax return.⁵⁰⁵¹

The life deduction has three categories: general life, care and medical, and individual annuity. Contracts concluded on or after 2012-01-01 use the new formula below; older contracts use a different one.⁵⁰ Each category is capped at ¥40,000 for new contracts or ¥50,000 for old ones, with an overall ceiling of ¥120,000 (as of 2026-04-01).⁵⁰

Annual premiums paid (new contracts, per category)	Deduction	As of
Up to ¥20,000	Full amount	2026-04-0150
¥20,001 to ¥40,000	Premiums × 1/2 + ¥10,000	2026-04-0150
¥40,001 to ¥80,000	Premiums × 1/4 + ¥20,000	2026-04-0150
Over ¥80,000	¥40,000	2026-04-0150

From tax year 2026, a taxpayer with a dependant under 23 has a higher general-life ceiling of ¥60,000 for new contracts, while the ¥120,000 overall ceiling stays the same (as of 2026-04-01).⁵⁰

The earthquake deduction is the full premium up to ¥50,000, and ¥50,000 above that (as of 2026-04-01).⁵¹ The detailed calculation sits in The Deduction Stack: Basic, Spouse, Dependent, and Social Insurance.

Qualifying kyosai count too. The Income Tax Act extends the life deduction to agricultural cooperative life kyosai and similar kyosai named by Cabinet Order, which include consumer co-op federations' life kyosai contracts.⁵²⁵³ For the earthquake deduction, the listed kyosai include JA building-renewal (建物更生共済) and fire kyosai, and consumer co-op federations' fire and natural-disaster kyosai (as of 2026-04-01).⁵⁴

Two conditions catch foreign residents. Every beneficiary must be the premium payer, their spouse, or another relative, and contracts concluded abroad with a foreign insurer do not qualify.⁵⁵⁵³

Good to know

Duplicate liability cover is common

Personal liability cover comes as a rider on fire, auto, and personal accident policies, and one policy covers the family, so a household can end up paying for it two or three times.¹⁰ Check your existing policies before buying a separate bicycle policy.

Travel cover overlaps the same way. When a credit card's travel insurance and a standalone policy both apply, claims are paid within the combined limit up to the actual loss, not doubled.¹¹

The agency-bundled fire policy is not the only option

Your landlord normally asks for fire insurance at lease signing, and the agency often offers a policy on the spot.⁴ What the lease can require, and how to use a carrier of your choice, are covered in Fire Insurance and the Carrier-Substitution Trick.

Most policies do not follow you out of Japan

A Japanese life policy can stay in force after you move abroad if premiums keep being paid. JILI advises notifying the insurer and arranging payment through a proxy in Japan, a Japanese bank account, or an advance lump sum.⁵⁶ Claims can be made through a proxy, on return, or from abroad, but insurers typically do not send money overseas.⁵⁶

Buying a new policy from abroad is generally not possible; Lifenet, for example, requires you to live in Japan when you apply (as of 2026-10-10; confirm current conditions with the insurer).³⁶ Sort out your policies before leaving, as part of Departure Checklist: The 90-Day Run-Up.

Home-country policies may stop covering you once you live in Japan

Whether a life or health policy from your home country keeps covering you while you live in Japan depends on that policy's terms, not on Japanese rules. Check with your home insurer before relying on it or cancelling it.

Beneficiaries living outside Japan

Each insurer sets its own rules on who can be a beneficiary and how claims are paid abroad. Nippon Life, for example, asks that death-benefit beneficiaries in principle be a spouse, a blood relative within the third degree, or an in-law within the first degree, with others reviewed case by case (as of 2026-10-10).⁵⁷

At Nippon Life, a beneficiary living overseas claims a death benefit either in person during a visit to Japan or through a proxy, such as a relative in Japan within the third degree or a lawyer (as of 2026-10-10).⁵⁸ Its overseas remittance option covers only listed benefit types, which do not include death benefits, and only when no domestic route is possible (as of 2026-10-10).⁵⁹

See also

• What NHI Covers and What's Excluded
• Year-End Adjustment vs. Kakutei Shinkoku: Which You File
• Kosei Nenkin: Employees Pension Insurance
• Health Insurance Society vs. Kyokai Kenpo
• After-Death Procedures in Japan: The Administrative Checklist

References

Footnotes

1. 厚生労働省. 「我が国の医療保険について」. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/iryouhoken/iryouhoken01/index.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. 国土交通省. 「自賠責保険・共済ってどんなもの？」. https://www.mlit.go.jp/jidosha/jibaiseki/about/overview/index.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. 国土交通省. 「自転車損害賠償責任保険等への加入促進: 地方公共団体の条例の制定状況（令和6年4月1日現在）」(PDF). https://www.mlit.go.jp/road/bicycleuse/promotion/pdf/situation.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

4. 一般社団法人日本損害保険協会. 「これだけは知っておきたい: ポイント6（賃貸住宅と火災保険）」. https://www.sonpo.or.jp/wakaru/seminar/koredake/point6.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

5. 厚生労働省. 「国民健康保険の加入・脱退について」. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_21539.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. 日本年金機構. 「国民年金に加入するための手続き」. Updated 2025-09-11. https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/kokunen/kanyu/20140710-04.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. 厚生労働省. 「介護サービス情報公表システム: 介護保険とは」. https://www.kaigokensaku.mhlw.go.jp/commentary/about.html ↩ ↩²

8. 住宅金融支援機構. 「新機構団信の加入要件・保障内容｜【フラット35】」. https://www.flat35.com/danshin_menu/shin-danshin/kanyuu.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. 財務省. 「地震保険制度の概要」. https://www.mof.go.jp/policy/financial_system/earthquake_insurance/jisin.htm ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

10. 一般社団法人日本損害保険協会. 「個人賠償責任保険」. https://www.sonpo.or.jp/insurance/compensation/index.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

11. 一般社団法人日本損害保険協会. 「損害保険Q&A: からだの保険・他 問82 海外旅行保険」. https://soudanguide.sonpo.or.jp/body/q082.html ↩ ↩² ↩³

12. 厚生労働省. 「高額療養費制度を利用される皆さまへ」. Updated 2026-07-31. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/iryouhoken/juuyou/kougakuiryou/index.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

13. 全国健康保険協会 (協会けんぽ). 「よくあるご質問: 病気やケガで会社を休んだとき（傷病手当金）」. https://www.kyoukaikenpo.or.jp/faq/benefit/002/index.html ↩ ↩²

14. e-Gov法令検索 (デジタル庁). 「国民健康保険法」第58条. Retrieved 2026-10-10. https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/api/2/law_data/333AC0000000192?elm=MainProvision-Article_58&response_format=xml ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

15. 日本年金機構. 「遺族年金」. Updated 2025-09-11. https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/jukyu/seido/izokunenkin/jukyu-yoken/20150401-03.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

16. 国土交通省 自転車活用推進本部. 「自転車損害賠償責任保険等への加入促進」. https://www.mlit.go.jp/road/bicycleuse/promotion/ ↩

17. 国土交通省. 「自賠責保険・共済の限度額と補償内容」. https://www.mlit.go.jp/jidosha/jibaiseki/about/payment/index.html ↩

18. 損害保険料率算出機構. 「2026年4月30日金融庁長官への届出 届出のご案内（自賠責保険基準料率）」. https://www.giroj.or.jp/ratemaking/cali/202604_announcement.html ↩

19. 公益財団法人生命保険文化センター. 「2024（令和6）年度 生命保険に関する全国実態調査（速報版）」プレスリリース. 2024-11-25. https://www.jili.or.jp/press/2024/9770.html ↩ ↩² ↩³

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21. 名古屋市. 「海外療養費制度について」. Updated 2026-04-01. https://www.city.nagoya.jp/kurashi/hoken/1011736/1011758/1011763/1011765.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

22. 一般社団法人日本共済協会. 「協同組合はどんな法律に基づいて設立され、共済事業を実施しているのですか？」. https://www.jcia.or.jp/insulance/insurance-add/post-43.html ↩ ↩²

23. 一般社団法人日本共済協会. 「共済Q&A」. https://www.jcia.or.jp/insulance/qa.html ↩

24. 都道府県民共済グループ（全国生活協同組合連合会）. 「割戻金｜約束に、まっすぐ。」. https://www.kyosai-cc.or.jp/yakusoku/omodoshi.html ↩ ↩²

25. こくみん共済 coop（全国労働者共済生活協同組合連合会）. 「全労済の新しい愛称『こくみん共済 coop』のお知らせ」. https://www.zenrosai.coop/tasukeai.html ↩

26. こくみん共済 coop. 「よくあるご質問: こくみん共済 coop の正式名称と認可省庁を教えてください。」. https://www.faq.zenrosai.coop/kokumincoop/FAQ/web/knowledge188.html ↩ ↩²

27. こくみん共済 coop. 「組合員について」. https://www.zenrosai.coop/zenrosai/profile/kumiaiin.html ↩ ↩²

28. こくみん共済 coop. 「よくあるご質問: こくみん共済 coop の出資金について概要や用途を教えてください。」. https://www.faq.zenrosai.coop/kokumincoop/FAQ/web/knowledge175.html ↩ ↩²

29. CO・OP共済（日本コープ共済生活協同組合連合会）. 「加入手続きの流れ」. https://coopkyosai.coop/thinking/join.html ↩ ↩²

30. 全国生活協同組合連合会 (都道府県民共済グループ). 「【制度のご案内】生命共済・特約コース」(PDF, edition code 2610Net). https://www.kyosai-cc.or.jp/demand2/seido_mypage_pdf/seido_s_net.pdf ↩

31. 愛知県民共済生活協同組合. 「よくあるご質問: 生命共済には誰でも加入できますか？」. https://kenmin-aichi.kyosai-cc.or.jp/faq/life/q08.html ↩ ↩²

32. 東京都民共済生活協同組合. 「生命共済 総合保障型」. https://tokyo.kyosai-cc.or.jp/think/life/total.html ↩ ↩² ↩³

33. JA共済（全国共済農業協同組合連合会）. 「JA共済の特長やご加入条件に関する質問｜よくあるご質問」. https://www.ja-kyosai.or.jp/faq/character/ ↩ ↩²

34. オリックス生命保険株式会社. 「よくあるご質問: 外国籍ですが、保険に加入できますか？」. https://faq.orixlife.co.jp/faq_detail.html?id=63&category=1018&page=1000 ↩ ↩²

35. ライフネット生命保険株式会社. 「よくあるご質問: 外国人・外国籍でも加入できますか？」. https://www.faq.lifenet-seimei.co.jp/24002 ↩ ↩²

36. ライフネット生命保険株式会社. 「お客さまの声を受けた改善事例: 海外在住者でも申し込みできるかどうかがわからない」. https://www.lifenet-seimei.co.jp/profile/satisfaction/example/1188820_1669.html ↩ ↩²

37. 公益財団法人生命保険文化センター. 「団体定期保険（任意加入）」. https://www.jili.or.jp/knows_learns/kind/others/9193.html ↩ ↩²

38. 金融庁. 「免許・許可・登録等を受けている業者一覧」. https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyo.html ↩ ↩²

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40. e-Gov法令検索 (デジタル庁). 「保険業法」第337条. Retrieved 2026-10-10. https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/api/2/law_data/407AC0000000105?elm=MainProvision-Article_337&response_format=xml ↩

41. 金融庁. 「『免許を有しない外国保険業者の保険契約の勧誘について』の公表について」. 2024-10-17. https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r6/hoken/20241017/20241017.html ↩

42. e-Gov法令検索 (デジタル庁). 「保険業法」(平成七年法律第百五号) 第309条 (保険契約の申込みの撤回等). Version retrieved 2026-10-10 (latest amendment shown: 令和8年法律第64号). https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/api/2/law_data/407AC0000000105?elm=MainProvision-Article_309&response_format=xml ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

43. 一般社団法人日本損害保険協会. 「保険業法改正（2022年5月9日施行）に伴うクーリングオフの対応について」. 2022. https://www.sonpo.or.jp/news/caution/hokengyouhou.html ↩

44. 公益財団法人生命保険文化センター. 「生命保険に関するQ&A: クーリング・オフ」. https://www.jili.or.jp/knows_learns/q_a/life_insurance/life_insurance_q10.html ↩

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46. 金融庁. 「金融機関とのトラブルに関する相談・苦情窓口（金融ADR機関）一覧」(令和7年9月9日時点, PDF). https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/adr/adr_madoguchi.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

47. 消費者庁. 「消費者ホットライン」. https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/local_cooperation/local_consumer_administration/hotline/ ↩ ↩²

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49. 一般社団法人日本損害保険協会. 「損害保険Q&A: すまいの保険 問62 地震保険」. https://soudanguide.sonpo.or.jp/home/q062.html ↩

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51. 国税庁. 「No.1145 地震保険料控除」(令和8年4月1日現在法令等). https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/shotoku/1145.htm ↩ ↩²

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55. 国税庁. 「No.1141 生命保険料控除の対象となる保険契約等」(令和8年4月1日現在法令等). https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/shiraberu/taxanswer/shotoku/1141.htm ↩

56. 公益財団法人生命保険文化センター. 「海外へ転勤すると、生命保険の契約はどうなるの？」. https://jili.or.jp/knows_learns/q_a/life_insurance/174.html ↩ ↩²

57. 日本生命保険相互会社. 「よくあるご質問: 死亡保険金の受取人は誰でもいいのですか？」. https://faq.nissay.co.jp/faq/show/51?category_id=10&site_domain=default ↩

58. 日本生命保険相互会社. 「よくあるご質問: 死亡保険金受取人が海外在住の場合、死亡保険金請求はどうすればいいですか？」. https://faq.nissay.co.jp/faq/show/502?category_id=21&site_domain=default ↩

59. 日本生命保険相互会社. 「よくあるご質問: 海外口座に送金してもらえますか？」. https://faq.nissay.co.jp/faq/show/98?category_id=21&site_domain=default ↩