Unemployment Benefits (Shitsugyo-Hoken)

Unemployment benefits in Japan replace part of your prior wages while you search for a new job through Hello Work.¹ The system is procedurally strict, with a separation certificate to collect, a mandatory briefing to attend, and a monthly certification rhythm to keep.²

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and your local Hello Work. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed shakai hoken roumushi for a benefit dispute such as a contested separation reason, or an immigration lawyer or gyoseishoshi where unemployment overlaps a visa renewal or status question.

Overview

The benefit is the basic allowance (kihon teate, "basic allowance") of employment insurance (koyo hoken, "employment insurance").¹ It goes to insured workers who have separated from employment and are willing and able to work but cannot find a job.¹

Hello Work (harō wāku, "Hello Work") administers every step, from the eligibility decision to each monthly payment.² Colloquial names such as shitsugyo hoken (shitsugyō hoken, "unemployment insurance") refer to this same system in everyday speech.¹

This article applies to any enrolled employee who separates, Japanese or foreign. Foreign residents must additionally hold a status of residence that permits work and active job seeking, as explained in the visa section below.¹³

Eligibility and Coverage

Eligibility turns on two things: your insured contribution history and your willingness and ability to work right now.¹

General separations: 12 months in 24

You qualify when your insured period totals 12 months or more in the 2 years before your separation date.¹ A month counts toward that total when the days forming the basis of wage payment reach 11 or more, or the hours reach 80 or more.¹

You must also file a job-seeking application at Hello Work and be unemployed in the legal sense: willing and able to take a job at any time, yet without work despite your own efforts and Hello Work's.¹ People who cannot work immediately cannot receive the allowance for that period, including those out through illness or injury, pregnancy or childbirth or childcare, planned rest after retirement, or full-time housework after marriage.¹

Involuntary separations: 6 months in 12

Workers forced out with no time to prepare qualify faster. A specially qualified recipient (tokutei jukyū shikakusha, "specially qualified recipient"), typically a bankruptcy or dismissal case, needs only 6 months of insured period in the year before separation.¹

The same 6 month bar covers a specified-reason leaver (tokutei riyū rishokusha, "specified-reason leaver"), typically someone whose fixed-term contract was not renewed.¹ Unrenewed fixed-term leavers receive the same scheduled benefit days as dismissed workers only where the separation date falls between 31 March 2009 and 31 March 2027 (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Hello Work).⁴

Check which separation category Hello Work assigns you

The relaxed 6 month rule, the longer duration schedule, and the shorter wait all turn on whether Hello Work classes you as an involuntary or specified-reason leaver.²¹ If the category looks wrong, raise it at the eligibility decision with evidence rather than accepting the shorter schedule.

Benefit Amount and Duration

Your daily amount follows your prior wages, and your total days follow your age, tenure, and reason for leaving.¹⁴

Daily amount: 50 to 80 percent of prior wages

The daily amount is roughly 50 to 80 percent of your wage daily amount, which is the total of regularly paid wages over the 6 months before separation, excluding bonuses, divided by 180 (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Hello Work).¹ For ages 60 to 64 the band is 45 to 80 percent, and lower earners sit at the higher end of the rate in every band (as of 2026-09-06).¹

Age-band caps limit the daily amount from above.¹

Age band	Daily cap	As of	Notes
Under 30	¥7,450	2026-08-011	Lowest cap band
30 to under 45	¥8,270	2026-08-011	Middle cap band
45 to under 60	¥9,110	2026-08-011	Highest cap band
60 to under 65	¥7,830	2026-08-011	Reduced band

The caps above move by administrative revision, so treat the table as a snapshot (as of 2026-08-01) and confirm the current caps with Hello Work before estimating your payment.¹

Terminology

• 賃金日額 (chingin nichigaku, "wage daily amount"): the 6 month wage total divided by 180.¹
• 基本手当日額 (kihon teate nichigaku, "daily basic-allowance amount"): the daily sum actually paid.¹

Duration: 90 to 330 days by age, tenure, and reason

Scheduled benefit days run 90 to 360 days across all tracks, with 90 to 330 days the standard working range for general and involuntary cases (as of 2026-09-06).¹⁴

General leavers, meaning voluntary resignations, retirements, and expiries outside the special tracks, receive 90 days with under 1 year insured, 90 days with 1 to under 5 years, 120 days with 5 to under 10 years, or 150 days with 10 to under 20 years, at any age (as of 2026-09-06).⁴

Dismissed workers, bankruptcy cases, and qualifying non-renewals receive longer schedules that rise with age and tenure: under 30, 90 to 180 days; 30 to under 35, 120 to 240 days; 35 to under 45, 150 to 270 days; 45 to under 60, 180 to 330 days; and 60 to under 65, 150 to 240 days (as of 2026-09-06).⁴

Workers with employment difficulties receive 150 to 300 days when under 45, or 360 days when 45 to under 65, depending on insured period (as of 2026-09-06).⁴

Separation type	Scheduled days	As of	Notes
General (voluntary, retirement, expiry)	90–150	2026-09-064	Flat by age, rises with tenure
Bankruptcy, dismissal, qualifying non-renewal	90–330	2026-09-064	Rises with age and tenure
Employment difficulties	150–360	2026-09-064	Separate track

Whatever your scheduled days, the benefit period is in principle 1 year from the day after separation (1 year and 30 days for 330 scheduled days; 1 year and 60 days for 360 days). Days still unused past that window are lost.²¹

Application Process at Hello Work

The claim runs through the Hello Work office with jurisdiction over your address, not your former employer's address.² The flow below shows each gate in order.

Documents to bring

Before your last day, confirm whether you hold an employment-insurance insured-person certificate.² Also confirm the contents of the separation certificate your company submits to Hello Work, including the recorded separation reason, since you sign off on your name entry before it is filed.²

After separation, the Employment Insurance Insured Person Separation Certificate (koyō hoken hihokensha rishokuhyō, "employment insurance separation certificate"), forms 1 and 2, arrives from or via your employer.² Practitioner guidance describes employers issuing separation paperwork within about 10 days to 2 weeks of separation.⁵ Where the employer never issues it or is untraceable, consult your local Hello Work directly.²

Bring the separation certificates 1 and 2, a personal-number confirmation document such as a My Number card, an identity document, 2 recent photos, and a bankbook or cash card in your own name.² Presenting a My Number card at each step waives the photo requirement.²

Filing hours are weekdays 08:30 to 17:15, and Hello Work recommends arriving before 16:00 because the eligibility decision plus the job-seeking application take time.²

Bring your My Number card to skip the photo requirement

Presenting the card at the procedure and at each subsequent payment application waives the 2-photo rule.² It also doubles as both your number confirmation and your identity document, cutting the checklist substantially.

Registration, briefing, and monthly certification

File the job-seeking application first, then submit the separation certificates.² Hello Work confirms the requirements and decides eligibility, including judging the separation reason.² A recorded reason you dispute, for example a solicited resignation filed as voluntary, should be challenged on the spot; Hello Work investigates the facts and judges the reason itself.²

After the decision, Hello Work sets the date of the initial briefing for recipients and hands you the recipient handbook. Attendance on the set date is mandatory.² At the briefing you receive the Employment Insurance Recipient Certificate and the Unemployment Certification Report, plus your first certification date.²

Unemployment certification then repeats in principle every 4 weeks on the set date at your Hello Work, submitting the report with your job-seeking record plus the recipient certificate.² A certification period in principle requires 2 or more qualifying job-seeking acts, or 1 for the first certification period.² Applying for openings, attending Hello Work counselling or referrals, joining seminars, using licensed private agencies, and sitting qualification exams all count; merely browsing listings or asking acquaintances does not.²

Once certified, payment arrives by bank transfer, normally within 5 business days of the certification date, later across holidays or year-end.² Certification and payment repeat until re-employment, up to your scheduled benefit days.²

Waiting Period and Payment Timing

Two clocks run before money starts: a universal wait everyone serves, and an extra restriction only some leavers serve.²⁶

The 7 day waiting period

The 7 days of unemployment following the job-seeking application carry no benefit.² This 7 day wait (taiki, "waiting period") applies to every claimant regardless of separation reason.²

The post-resignation restriction

Workers who resigned without justifiable reason face a further benefit restriction (kyūfu seigen, "benefit restriction"): no basic allowance for a fixed period after the 7 day wait expires (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).⁶

For separation dates on or after 1 April 2025 the restriction is in principle 1 month; for 31 March 2025 or earlier it was in principle 2 months (as of 2026-09-06).⁶ The restriction runs 3 months where the worker voluntarily separated without justifiable reason twice or more in the prior 5 years and had eligibility decided, or where the worker was dismissed for grave cause attributable to themselves (as of 2026-09-06).⁶

Since April 2025, taking qualifying reskilling education or training lifts the restriction so the basic allowance can be received (as of 2026-09-06).⁶ Note that some Hello Work procedure pages still document the older 2 month figure in their certification section; that text describes the pre-April-2025 cohort, while the Ministry notice above governs the current cohort split (as of 2026-09-06).⁶²

An older guide quoting a flat 2 month wait is out of date

The flat 2 month figure was correct for separations through 31 March 2025.⁶ For separations on or after 1 April 2025, the principle is 1 month, with the 3 month exceptions above.⁶ Check which side of the date line your separation falls on before planning your finances.

Unemployment Benefits and Your Visa Status

Leaving a job triggers an immigration duty alongside the Hello Work procedure. A work-status holder who leaves or changes employer must notify the Immigration Services Agency of the contracting-organization change within 14 days of the event; practitioner guidance treats leaving and joining as separate notifiable events.⁷⁸

Neglecting the notification can draw a fine of up to ¥200,000 (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with the Immigration Services Agency).⁷ File it yourself even if your former employer files its own acceptance-side notice; the two duties are independent.⁷

The deeper worry is the 3 month rule. The Immigration Control Act allows revocation of status where the holder does not perform the permitted activity for 3 months or more without justifiable reason; revocation is discretionary rather than automatic.⁷⁸ Practitioner sources consistently report that active job seeking, documented through Hello Work registration, applications, and interviews, counts as justifiable reason, so a brief unemployment spell with a documented search does not by itself compromise a renewal (practitioner-reported practice, not an agency-published guarantee).⁷⁸

Document your job search from the first week

Your Hello Work registration, application log, and interview records are the evidence that a gap between jobs had justifiable reason.⁷⁸ A months-long gap with no paper trail is the pattern practitioner sources flag as the real renewal risk, not the act of receiving benefits itself.

The practical edge case is a work visa expiring mid-benefit. Without employment, that status cannot be renewed as-is, and a change to another status for continued job seeking is evaluated case by case; practitioner guidance notes that a refused change ends the benefit run because the claimant can no longer satisfy the able-to-work requirement (practitioner-reported practice).³ Raise the timing with an immigration lawyer or gyoseishoshi well before expiry rather than after.³

Good to know

Check the separation reason printed on your separation certificate before leaving Hello Work

A wrong reason code quietly moves you onto the shorter duration schedule with the longer wait.² Hello Work judges the reason at the eligibility decision, so compare the printed code against what actually happened while you are still at the counter.² A solicited resignation filed as voluntary needs a same-day challenge with evidence, and Hello Work will investigate the facts itself.²

Apply promptly because the benefit window runs one year from the day after separation

Late filing burns payable days you can never recover.²¹ The benefit period is in principle 1 year from the day after separation, so any scheduled days still unused past that window are simply lost.¹ Extensions exist only for 30-plus-day stretches of inability to work through illness, injury, pregnancy, or childcare, up to 3 years.¹

Training or early re-employment can change the payment picture

Qualifying reskilling education or training taken on or after April 2025 releases the voluntary-leaver restriction, which can matter more than the training subsidy itself (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).⁶ Separately, practitioner sources describe a re-employment allowance (saishūshoku teate, "re-employment allowance") paid as a lump sum when you land a job early, scaled to your remaining benefit days; confirm the exact terms at Hello Work before counting on it.³

See also

• Tenshoku Procedure: The Job-Change Sequence
• Where to Look: The Bilingual Job-Board Landscape
• Japanese Job Interview Format: What to Expect
• Job-Hunting from Abroad vs. From Inside Japan
• Inter-Employer Movements: Same Industry, Cross Industry, Cross Status

References

Footnotes

1. Hello Work Internet Service (Employment Security Bureau, MHLW). 「基本手当について」 (what the basic allowance is, eligibility, benefit period, benefit amount and age-band caps). https://www.hellowork.mhlw.go.jp/insurance/insurance_basicbenefit.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹

2. Hello Work Internet Service (Employment Security Bureau, MHLW). 「雇用保険の具体的な手続き」 (step by step claim procedure: separation certificate, eligibility decision, briefing, unemployment certification, payment). https://www.hellowork.mhlw.go.jp/insurance/insurance_procedure.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹

3. MyKyoten. "Employment Insurance for Foreigners: Hello Work Registration and Unemployment Benefits Guide" (foreigner-focused practitioner walkthrough, last verified June 2026). https://mykyoten.com/guides/employment-insurance-for-foreigners-hello-work-registration-and-unemployment-benefits-guide ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Hello Work Internet Service (Employment Security Bureau, MHLW). 「基本手当の所定給付日数」 (scheduled benefit-day tables by age, insured period, and separation reason). https://www.hellowork.mhlw.go.jp/insurance/insurance_benefitdays.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

5. MailMate. "Unemployment Insurance in Japan, Explained" (employer-side professional guide: 12 month rule, separation-document issuance in 10 days to 2 weeks, 50 to 80 percent of average daily wage). https://mailmate.jp/blog/unemployment-insurance-in-japan ↩

6. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 「令和7年4月以降に教育訓練等を受ける場合、給付制限が解除され、基本手当を受給できます」 (MHLW notice on the benefit-restriction period for voluntary separations, including the April 2025 revision). https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000160564_00045.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

7. Immigration-office practitioner guidance on job-change notifications and the 3 month rule: Immigration Nagoya (administrative-scrivener office), "Japan Visa: Job Change Notification Rules" (14 day notification, Article 22-4 revocation risk). https://immigration-nagoya.com/en/notification-accepting-organization-guide/; corroborated by TreeGlobalPartners, "Visa During Job Change" (Article 22-4 text, justifiable reason, 14 day notification under Article 19-16). https://treeglobalpartners.com/en/articles/visa-during-job-change/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

8. Japan Handbook. "Changing Employers on a Work Visa: Notification Rules and Advice" (14 day notification practice, 3 month rule as non-automatic, job hunting as justifiable ground). https://japanhandbook.com/changing-employers-on-a-work-visa-notification-rules-advice/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴