Kosei Nenkin: Employees Pension Insurance
Kosei nenkin is the earnings-linked pension deducted from every salaried paycheck: 18.3 percent of standardized pay, split evenly with the employer.12 Salaried residents rarely think about it until a statement arrives, yet it decides most of their retirement income.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Japan Pension Service site. This article is general information, not tax, legal, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed sharoshi for coverage and benefit-record questions or a zeirishi for deduction questions.
Overview
The 厚生年金保険 (kosei nenkin hoken, "Employees' Pension Insurance") is Japan's earnings-related second pillar inside the social insurance system. Members simultaneously hold National Pension coverage as Category 2, so the eventual benefit pairs the flat Basic Pension with an earnings-related supplement.34 Coverage applies regardless of nationality; what matters is the workplace, not the passport.31
The employer's role is structural, not optional. Covered workplaces must enroll their workers, deduct the worker's share from salary, and remit both shares to the Japan Pension Service by the monthly deadline.35 Workers whose employer fails to enroll them should notify the nearest JPS branch office directly.6
Who is covered
Private and public employees under age 70 in covered workplaces belong to Employees' Pension Insurance.31 Short-hours thresholds have widened in stages to pull part-timers in, so readers once told they were ineligible should recheck rather than assume the old answer stands.7 Maternity and childcare leave can pause both the worker's and the employer's shares on application, protecting the record through the leave.1
Contributions
The total rate is 18.3 percent of 標準報酬月額 (hyojun hoshu getsugaku, "Standard Monthly Remuneration") and 標準賞与額 (hyojun shoyo gaku, "Standard Bonus Amount"), split evenly: the employee pays 9.15 percent and the employer pays 9.15 percent (as of 2026; confirm current figures with the Japan Pension Service and the OECD Taxing Wages tables).12
Actual pay is banded into a statutory remuneration table to fix each worker's Standard Monthly Remuneration; salary and allowances count, while bonuses paid at intervals above three months are treated as bonuses.1 Two ceilings cap the base: 650,000 yen of monthly remuneration and 1.5 million yen per bonus payment (as of 2026; confirm current figures with the Japan Pension Service).2
| Element (as of 2026) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total rate | 18.3 percent |
| Employee share | 9.15 percent |
| Employer share | 9.15 percent |
| Monthly remuneration ceiling | 650,000 yen |
| Bonus cap per payment | 1,500,000 yen |
The table as a whole reflects JPS mechanism pages and the OECD Taxing Wages 2026 Japan chapter (as of 2026).12 Each month's contribution falls due by the last day of the following month, deducted from salary in practice.35
The diagram shows the collection flow (as of 2026).15 Fractions in the worker's deducted share follow statutory rounding rules agreed with the workplace.5
What contributions buy
Old-age Employees' Pension starts at 65 with one or more months of EPI coverage plus satisfaction of the Basic Pension 10-year qualification.89 The benefit has two layers: the flat Basic Pension (847,300 yen per year in fiscal 2026 for 40 paid years) and the earnings-related supplement from reassessed career remuneration.89
Scale comes from three dated markers. The JPS fiscal 2025 model case for 40-year coverage puts the earnings-related portion at about 94,200 yen per month above the basic amount (as of 2026-04; confirm current figures with the Japan Pension Service).10 The MHLW average benefit (basic plus earnings-related) ran about 151,000 yen per month at the end of fiscal 2023 (as of 2024; confirm current figures with the Ministry).4 The standard couple model, one 40-year average earner plus two full Basic Pensions, paid 232,784 yen per month in fiscal 2025 and 237,279 yen in fiscal 2026 (as of 2026-04-01; confirm current figures with the Japan Pension Service).11
Working while receiving pension
Drawing a pension while staying on salary triggers the working-pension adjustment. Readers already drawing the specially-provided benefit face reduction or suspension where combined monthly pension and pay pass 650,000 yen (as of 2026; confirm current figures with the Japan Pension Service).8 Separately, the standard 65-plus threshold rises from 500,000 yen to 620,000 yen per month from April 2026 in fiscal 2024 prices, so near-retirees should confirm which threshold covers their cohort before timing retirement (scheduled; confirm current figures with the Ministry).7
Job changes and coverage gaps
Leaving a covered job ends Category 2 on the spot. The next step is either the new employer's scheme or a Category 1 filing at the municipal office; the unfiled interval between the two is uninsured time.36 Coordinate the health-insurance side of the same move before the last paycheck. Salaried-only histories are deducted at source and rarely show arrears, so gaps cluster around job changes, non-enrolled workplaces, and probation-period misunderstandings.31
Pension records for roughly the past two years are reviewed in permanent residency screening, and bridge gaps between salaried jobs are exactly what reviewers find. File Category 1 the week a job ends, keep the receipts, and read the compliance entry before any immigration filing.
Good to know
Bonuses count, with their own ceiling
Bonus contributions apply per bonus payment up to 1.5 million yen; amounts above the cap are effectively contribution-free and add no benefit credit.2 Readers with heavy bonus-weighted pay should check that each bonus was actually reported.
The ceiling may rise under the pending revision
The Ministry proposes lifting the monthly remuneration ceiling from 650,000 yen toward 750,000 yen, which would raise top-bracket contributions from 59,500 yen to 68,600 yen per side.7 The change is proposal-stage as cited, so high earners should watch the effective date rather than budgeting on it early.
Part-time coverage keeps widening in stages
Enterprise-size thresholds for short-hours enrollment are being lowered step by step, with temporary employer-side burden support during the transition (as of the cited revision; confirm current thresholds with the Japan Pension Service or a sharoshi).7 Part-timers should treat any old ineligibility answer as expired information.
See also
- Shakai Hoken Overview
- Health Insurance When Changing Jobs in Japan
- The Financial and Tax Criteria for Permanent Residency
- Common Permanent Residency Rejection Causes
- Preparing the Permanent Residency Application
- Japan Pension Vesting: The 10-Year Rule