Japan Survivors' Pension: How Much by Salary and Family

The short answer: at ¥400,000 a month, a wife with one child gets ¥1.58 million a year, a childless wife in her forties ¥1.13 million

Two things set the amount: the deceased person's average standard remuneration and the shape of the family. The table below shows annual amounts for fiscal 2026. Every case assumes all coverage falls on or after April 2003 and uses the 300-month deeming rule.

The survivors' basic pension of ¥847,300, the child addition of ¥243,800 and the widow addition of ¥635,500 are the fiscal 2026 amounts[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Pension Guide, fiscal 2026 edition]. The survivors' employees' pension figures are this site's own calculations.

Having a child more than doubles the total. The gap is the survivors' basic pension of ¥847,300 plus the child addition of ¥243,800, or ¥1,091,100 a year. Average standard remuneration is a monthly average that includes bonuses, so a monthly salary of ¥300,000 with four months of bonus a year comes to about ¥400,000.

What the table assumes: the 300-month rule only applies to a death in service

For coverage on or after April 2003, the remuneration-proportional portion is "average standard remuneration x 5.481/1000 x number of months"[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Pension Guide]. Even if the coverage falls short of 300 months (25 years), it is deemed to be 300 months.

This site has applied its own figures to the Japan Pension Service formula.

The 300-month deeming rule is only available under the short-term requirement. Three cases qualify: death while in service, death within five years of the first medical consultation for the illness, and the death of someone who was receiving a grade 1 or grade 2 disability employees' pension[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Employees' Pension].

A death after leaving the job falls under the long-term requirement. There is no floor, and the actual number of covered months is used. With 200 months of coverage the amount drops to about two thirds of the table, so do not take the table at face value.

Once the child passes the end of the fiscal year in which they turn 18, ¥847,300 a year stops

The survivors' basic pension stops after 31 March of the fiscal year in which the child turns 18[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Basic Pension]. The child addition ends at the same moment. In the ¥400,000 example, the household's pension falls from ¥1.58 million a year to ¥490,000.

The mid-to-late-age widow addition fills part of that drop. It applies where the wife was 40 or over and under 65 at the husband's death and has no child. If the wife is 40 or over when the child's survivors' basic pension ends, the addition takes over from that point. It runs until she turns 65 and is ¥635,500 a year[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Pension Guide].

• It is not paid while the survivors' basic pension is being received (one or the other).
• Under the long-term requirement, the husband needs 20 years or more of employees' pension coverage.
• It is for wives only. There is no equivalent for a husband with no child.

There is also a transitional widow addition that takes over at 65, but it only covers wives born on or before 1 April 1956[Japan Pension Service, list of transitional pension measures]. In fiscal 2026 that means age 70 and over, so the working generation can set it aside.

From 65, the survivors' employees' pension is suspended by the amount of your own old-age employees' pension

At 65 your own old-age pension starts and an adjustment kicks in. The Japan Pension Service compares (1) and (2) below and takes the higher as the survivors' employees' pension. It then suspends an amount equal to your own old-age employees' pension[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Pension Guide].

1. (1) Three quarters of the deceased person's remuneration-proportional portion
2. (2) Two thirds of (1) plus half of your own old-age employees' pension
3. Take the higher, then deduct an amount equal to your own old-age employees' pension

The larger your own old-age employees' pension, the smaller the survivors' pension actually paid. Here is a wife with ¥600,000 a year of her own.

This site's calculation. Your own old-age employees' pension is paid in full. The pension totals are ¥1,447,300, ¥1,476,160 and ¥1,558,375 in that order (the old-age basic pension is taken at the full ¥847,300).

If your own old-age employees' pension is ¥1,000,000 a year, the survivors' employees' pension is ¥0 even where the husband's average standard remuneration was ¥500,000. The decided amount of ¥911,075 is swallowed by the ¥1,000,000 suspension. This is why people who worked long careers feel the survivors' pension has vanished.

Survivors' pensions are tax free. Resident tax, health insurance and care insurance premiums do not rise by one yen

A survivors' pension attracts neither income tax nor inheritance tax[National Tax Agency, No.1605]. The basis is the ban on public charges in article 25 of the National Pension Act and article 41(2) of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act[e-Gov, National Pension Act][e-Gov, Employees' Pension Insurance Act]. Both allow taxation of old-age pensions only. The exemption in article 9 of the Income Tax Act is limited to payments "based on the employment of the deceased", so the survivors' basic pension rests on the National Pension Act instead.

Because it is not income, none of the following are affected.

• Resident tax: it enters neither the exemption test nor the income-based portion[Nerima City, when resident tax is not charged].
• National Health Insurance premiums: it enters neither the former-proviso income nor the reduction test.
• Long-term care insurance premiums: the pension income used for the bracket test excludes tax-free pensions[Nerima City, care insurance premiums for people aged 65 and over].
• Tax return: with a survivors' pension alone, no return is needed at all.

There are two exceptions. One is the child-rearing allowance (児童扶養手当), which may be suspended in whole or in part[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Pension Guide]. The other is unpaid pension. An unpaid old-age pension collected by a survivor is occasional income for the person who receives it[National Tax Agency, No.1605].

The ¥500,000 special deduction means tax rarely arises. For money outside the pension system see the ¥5 million exemption for death retirement benefits and death insurance proceeds, and for the whole picture of tax and premiums in retirement see tax and insurance premiums for people living on a pension alone.

Who can receive it, and when the right is lost

Only the highest-ranking survivor whose livelihood was maintained by the deceased receives it. The order is spouse with a child, child, spouse with no child, parents, grandchild, grandparents[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Pension Guide].

Forfeiture must be reported to the pension office within 10 days (14 days for the survivors' basic pension). Only the child reaching the end of that fiscal year needs no forfeiture notice. Keeping a remarriage quiet means paying the money back later.

Claim at a pension office. The limitation period is five years, and two years for the lump-sum death benefit

Nothing is paid unless you claim. The survivors' pension runs from the month after the death[Japan Pension Service, Survivors' Pension Guide].

1. Decide where to file. A pension office or a street-corner pension consultation centre. For the survivors' basic pension alone, it is the municipal office.
2. Check the attachments first. A family register extract and a death certificate are needed, but the list changes with your My Number registration and whether there is a child. Read the guide to filling in the claim form and confirm with the pension office.
3. Wait for the pension certificate. About a month from filing, or about two months where the coverage record has to be checked.
4. Payments land in even months. Roughly one to two months after the certificate arrives, two months' worth at a time goes into the account you name.

The limitation period is five years from when the right arises[Japan Pension Service, pension limitation periods]. Where there were unavoidable circumstances, a written statement can stop the limitation applying. Unpaid pension is also five years, but the lump-sum death benefit is only two years, so do not mix the two up.

The order of all the procedures after a death is set out in the money roadmap for after a parent dies.

From April 2028, a childless spouse's survivors' employees' pension becomes a five-year benefit as a rule

Under the pension reform act passed in June 2025, the survivors' employees' pension for a spouse with no child is due to become a fixed-term benefit of five years as a rule from April 2028. The amount over those five years rises by about 1.3 times through a fixed-term supplement, and husbands under 55, previously excluded, are brought in. A pension whose entitlement arose before the start date stays on the current rules, so nobody currently receiving one sees a cut.

Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, "Publicity on the pension reform act" (30 July 2025). The rate of the fixed-term supplement and the age cut-offs await a cabinet order and are not final.

The rollout schedule and the income standard for continued payment are covered in the survivors' employees' pension becoming a five-year benefit from April 2028. Work out what your household gets under the current rules first, then check how the reform lands.

FAQ: how much a survivors' pension pays and how to claim it

Summary

• The survivor's employees' pension is three-quarters of the earnings-related portion. For an average standard remuneration of ¥400,000, it comes to ¥493,290 a year in fiscal Reiwa 8 (2026).
• A wife with one child receives the basic survivor's pension plus the child allowance, totaling ¥1,584,390 a year. Payments stop at the end of the fiscal year the child turns 18.
• A childless wife receives a middle-age widow's allowance of ¥635,500 a year from age 40, which ends at age 65.
• The 300-month deemed calculation applies only to cases such as death while employed. From age 65, the survivor's employees' pension is reduced by the amount of one's own old-age employees' pension.
• It is tax-exempt and does not affect resident tax or national health insurance premiums. Claims are filed at the pension office; the statute of limitations is 5 years (2 years for the death lump-sum payment).

Reference links (sources)

• Japan Pension Service, "Survivors' Pension Guide, fiscal 2026 edition" - amounts, formulas, the 300-month rule, the widow addition, the adjustment with other pensions, forfeiture and procedure
• Japan Pension Service, "Survivors' Employees' Pension" - the short-term and long-term requirements
• Japan Pension Service, "Survivors' Basic Pension" - the age requirement for a child
• Japan Pension Service, "List of transitional pension measures (fiscal 2026)" - the transitional widow addition
• Japan Pension Service, "Pension limitation periods" - five years for both the basic right and unpaid pension
• National Tax Agency, No.1605, public pensions paid to survivors - the scope of the exemption and unpaid pension
• National Pension Act, article 25 / Employees' Pension Insurance Act, article 41 - the ban on public charges

Note: the tables are this site's own calculations applying figures to the Japan Pension Service formula. They exclude the comparison with the guaranteed former amount and the apportionment of mutual-aid coverage periods. Confirm the actual amount with a pension office.