The ¥1,300,000 Wall Counts Gross Pay, Not Take-Home

The short answer: the ¥1,300,000 counts every yen before deductions

What the insurer — a health insurance society or the Japan Health Insurance Association (協会けんぽ) — looks at is income before tax and premiums are taken out. Whether it is taxable makes no difference[Tokyo Stationery Industry Health Insurance Society]. A commuting allowance, untaxed for income tax, is in.

Sources: Japan Pension Service, "Certification of dependents"[Japan Pension Service]. Certification criteria of a health insurance society[Tokyo Stationery Industry Health Insurance Society].

"¥1,300,000" appears in no statute. The Health Insurance Act says only "a person whose livelihood is mainly maintained by the insured person"[Health Insurance Act, art. 3(7)]. The figure comes from an administrative notice (通達) of 1977[MHLW, Hohatsu No. 9]. Because it is a notice and not a statute, practice varies between insurers.

From April 2026, overtime pay is not part of the ¥1,300,000

This is the big change of 2026. For certifications made on or after 1 April 2026, the test uses annual income expected from the wage set in the employment contract[MHLW, Hohatsu No. 1001-3]. That is wage under article 11 of the Labour Standards Act, so allowances and bonuses are included. Pay for overtime not provided for in the contract is "occasional income" and stays out of annual income[MHLW, Q&A].

What is used are the hourly rate, hours and days on your notice of employment conditions. The MHLW gives the reason as "to make dependent certification more predictable". Overtime in a busy season no longer moves the result.

Note: an example calculated by this site from figures on a notice of employment conditions.

Payslips still decide it for shift work, contracts under a year, and other income

The contract wage test is for people whose only income is salary. If you fall on the right-hand side below, you are judged as before on payslips or a tax certificate, and overtime pay is in your annual income[MHLW, Q&A, Q2-2 and Q6].

"Annual" means the next 12 months expected, not last year's record

The other misunderstanding is the period. The test is not January-to-December actuals but the income expected over the 12 months from the certification date[Japan Pension Service]. If you become a dependent in October, what you earned from January to September is not the yardstick.

Sources: the monthly and daily guides are from the Japan Pension Service[Japan Pension Service]. The ¥1,300,000 and ¥1,800,000 come from the 1977 notice[Hohatsu No. 9]. The ¥1,500,000 for ages 19 to 22 applies from 1 October 2025[Hohatsu No. 0704-1].

While you are drawing unemployment benefit, the daily figure applies. Once the basic allowance reaches ¥3,612 a day, you must file to come off dependent status.

One month over does not push you out. There is no "three months in a row" rule

A month above ¥108,334 does not on its own end your dependent status. The MHLW asks insurers this: even where a temporary rise means the last three months annualise to ¥1,300,000 or more, do not cancel it straight away[MHLW, administrative communication of 10 April 2020].

The same holds under the contract test from April 2026. Even if occasional income ends up taking you to ¥1,300,000 or more, you stay a dependent so long as it is "within a range reasonable by ordinary social standards"[Hohatsu No. 1001-3]. No amount is drawn. The MHLW deliberately declines to name one, saying "setting an amount could create a new income wall"[Q&A, Q8-4].

The familiar line that "three months in a row over the limit means you are out" has no primary source. No notice setting a number of months can be found. Insurers look at the last three months in order to check whether the rise is temporary.

¥1,060,000 measures scheduled wages, ¥1,300,000 measures total income

The two "income walls" use different tools. The ¥1,060,000 is a requirement for joining your workplace's social insurance: a reference figure obtained by annualising scheduled wages (所定内賃金) of ¥88,000 a month. Overtime pay, bonuses and occasional wages are out[MHLW, Q&A]. Commuting and family allowances as defined by the Minimum Wage Act are excluded too[Health Insurance Act, art. 3(1)(ix)(b)].

The ¥1,060,000 wage requirement is due to be abolished in October 2026. Minimum wages for fiscal 2025 exceed ¥1,016 an hour in every prefecture, so anyone working 20 hours a week or more is brought into coverage automatically[MHLW, points on expanding coverage]. For the whole picture see the ¥1,060,000 and ¥1,300,000 walls; for the link with minimum wages see minimum wages and the ¥1,060,000 wall.

Worked example: at ¥1,400,000 a year, take-home falls by ¥196,000

Cross ¥1,300,000 and premiums that were zero become yours in full. There are two of them: National Health Insurance and the National Pension. Calculated at the rates of Nerima City (練馬区).

Note on the assumptions. The National Pension is ¥17,920 a month[Japan Pension Service]. National Health Insurance uses Nerima City's fiscal 2026 rate of 10.58% and a per-capita levy of ¥67,073[Nerima City], and differs by municipality. The employment income deduction is ¥740,000[NTA, No.1410].

The valley is about ¥200,000 deep and roughly ¥300,000 wide before it fills in. The short cut is to check first whether you can join your employer's social insurance. Employees' pension also builds a bigger pension.

Income alone does not decide it. Living together means under half the insured person's income

Being under ¥1,300,000 is not enough by itself. Alongside the income test, the 1977 notice sets conditions on the maintenance of livelihood[MHLW, Hohatsu No. 9].

Dual-earner couples on similar incomes trip here even under ¥1,300,000. The scope and the paperwork are covered in who can be a health insurance dependent.

Summary

• The ¥1.3 million threshold is counted as income before deductions, not take-home pay. It includes tax-free commuting allowances and bonuses.
• Since April 2026, overtime pay has been excluded from the calculation. For those with a written employment notice covering salary only, the determination is based on the contracted wage.
• The guideline is ¥108,333 or less per month. It is based on the expected income for the next year, not past earnings.
• Exceeding the limit for just one month does not disqualify you. There is no primary-source basis for a "three consecutive months" standard.
• First, open your written employment notice and calculate expected annual income from your hourly wage and contracted hours.

Reference links (sources)

• MHLW, Hohatsu No. 9 of 6 April 1977 — the ¥1,300,000 and the livelihood conditions
• MHLW, Hohatsu No. 1001-3 of 1 October 2025 — judging on the contract wage
• MHLW, Q&A of 9 March 2026 (2nd edition) — overtime pay excluded as occasional income
• Japan Pension Service, "Procedures for adding a dependent" — the next 12 months expected
• MHLW, administrative communication of 10 April 2020 — do not cancel straight away on a temporary rise
• NTA, No.1410 Employment income deduction — the ¥740,000 used in the example
• MHLW, "Q&A on dependent certification based on the employer's certification" — the ¥1,060,000 counts scheduled wages
• MHLW, "Points on expanding social insurance coverage for short-time workers" — when the wage requirement goes
• Tokyo Stationery Industry Health Insurance Society, "On certifying dependents" — all regular income
• Nerima City, "How National Health Insurance premiums are calculated" — the fiscal 2026 rate and per-capita levy

Note: the worked examples apply the notices and premium rates ourselves; they are not official calculations. For an individual decision, check with your workplace or your insurer.