All people who are registered to reside in Japan and aged between 20 and 59, irrespective of their nationality, must be covered by National Pension system and must pay contribution. You need to register your enrollment to the National Pension system at your local Municipal Office.

If you are non-Japanese you may file a claim for the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payments within two years after you register to leave Japan (no longer Japanese resident). The Payment amount depends on the number of your contribution-paid months.

In order to eliminate dual compulsive coverage as well as to totalize qualifying periods for benefits betweem two countries, there are bilateral social security agreements between Japan and several countries.

Please visit at Japan Pension Service website to see more details on the Japanese National Pension system. Click "International" in the upper right of the page and choose your language; English, Chinese, Portguese, Spanish, Korean, Tagalog, Russian, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese.

It provides the information below:

• Overview of the Japanese National Pension System and Other Public Pension Systems
• Enrollment Procedures
• Pension Handbook
• Monthly Contributions
• Contribution Payment Exemption System
• Recovery of the Past Contribution-Exempt Periods
• National Pension Benefits Amount
• Lump-sum Withdrawal Payments for non-Japanese people
• Social Security Agreements
• Contact Point