This is a translation of the Japanese original. The Japanese version and the official Japanese materials are authoritative; all figures follow Japanese rules.
In Japan, social insurance premiums do not rise in proportion to salary. The standard monthly remuneration used for employees' pension is capped at ¥650,000, and the one used for health insurance at ¥1,390,000. For an employee with no bonus, the employee's share on a ¥30 million salary is about ¥1.84 million a year, or 6.1% of pay, less than half the 15.3% paid on ¥5 million[Japan Health Insurance Association, fiscal 2026 premium table for Tokyo (PDF, in Japanese)].
The pension cap is about to move: ¥680,000 from September 2027, ¥710,000 from September 2028 and ¥750,000 from September 2029. It affects people whose monthly pay excluding bonuses is ¥665,000 or more, and the employee's share eventually rises by ¥109,800 a year. Here is how premiums, taxes and take-home pay change for salaries of ¥15 million to ¥30 million, calculated at fiscal 2026 rates.
In short: take-home is about ¥10.17 million on ¥15 million and ¥17.69 million on ¥30 million, and social insurance stops at ¥1.84 million
| Annual salary (no bonus) | Health, long-term care and child support levy | Employees' pension | Employment insurance | Total (employee's share) | Share of salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ¥5 million | ¥287,820 | ¥450,180 | ¥25,000 | ¥763,000 | 15.3% |
| ¥10 million | ¥582,660 | ¥713,700 | ¥50,000 | ¥1,346,360 | 13.5% |
| ¥15 million | ¥891,540 | ¥713,700 | ¥75,000 | ¥1,680,240 | 11.2% |
| ¥20 million | ¥975,780 | ¥713,700 | ¥100,000 | ¥1,789,480 | 8.9% |
| ¥25 million | ¥975,780 | ¥713,700 | ¥125,000 | ¥1,814,480 | 7.3% |
| ¥30 million | ¥975,780 | ¥713,700 | ¥150,000 | ¥1,839,480 | 6.1% |
Employee's share, annual. Our calculation using the Tokyo branch's fiscal 2026 rates of the Japan Health Insurance Association (health 9.85%, long-term care 1.62%, child support levy 0.23%, employees' pension 18.3%, all split equally with the employer) and employment insurance (general industries, employee 0.5%), for ages 40 to 64, with monthly pay equal to salary divided by 12 and constant for 12 months[Japan Health Insurance Association, fiscal 2026 prefectural rates (in Japanese)][MHLW, fiscal 2026 employment insurance rates (PDF, in Japanese)]. Under 40, the long-term care part (about ¥120,000 at ¥15 million) does not apply.
Employees' pension is the same ¥713,700 from ¥10 million upwards, and health insurance is the same ¥975,780 from ¥20 million upwards. The only item that keeps growing with salary is the 0.5% employment insurance.
What is left after tax: rates of 33 to 40%, and no basic deduction above ¥25 million
While premiums stop, taxes keep rising with income. Taxable income above ¥9 million is taxed at 33% and above ¥18 million at 40%, plus 10% residence tax. The employment income deduction is fixed at ¥1.95 million once salary exceeds ¥8.5 million, and the basic deduction starts shrinking above total income of ¥23.5 million and disappears above ¥25 million[NTA, No. 1199 basic deduction (in Japanese)][NTA, No. 2260 income tax rates (in Japanese)].
| Annual salary (no bonus) | Social insurance | Income tax | Residence tax | Take-home | Take-home rate | Take-home from September 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ¥10 million | ¥1.346M | ¥0.806M | ¥0.632M | about ¥7.216M | 72.2% | about ¥7.139M (−¥76,000) |
| ¥15 million | ¥1.680M | ¥2.053M | ¥1.099M | about ¥10.167M | 67.8% | about ¥10.106M (−¥62,000) |
| ¥20 million | ¥1.789M | ¥3.701M | ¥1.588M | about ¥12.921M | 64.6% | about ¥12.859M (−¥62,000) |
| ¥25 million | ¥1.814M | ¥5.564M | ¥2.086M | about ¥15.536M | 62.1% | about ¥15.482M (−¥54,000) |
| ¥30 million | ¥1.839M | ¥7.849M | ¥2.626M | about ¥17.685M | 59.0% | about ¥17.631M (−¥54,000) |
Calculated with 2026 income tax (including the 2.1% reconstruction surtax) and residence tax (10% income-based plus ¥5,000 per-capita). Only the social insurance and basic deductions are applied; dependants, life insurance and other deductions are ignored. From September 2029, pension premiums rise ¥109,800 a year; the take-home figure nets off the tax saved through the social insurance deduction.
Someone on ¥10 million loses ¥76,000 of take-home, while someone on ¥25 million or more loses only ¥54,000. The same ¥109,800 premium comes back about 40% in lower tax for a person in the 40% bracket. The full working for a ¥10 million salary is in taxes and take-home on ¥10 million, and who is affected by the cap increase, year by year, is in the pension cap rises to ¥680,000 in September 2027.
Why premiums cap out: four ceilings, and only employment insurance has none
Premiums are charged not on actual pay but on the standard monthly remuneration and standard bonus amount read off a grade table. The table has a top grade, and pay above it carries no premium[Japan Pension Service, employees' pension premiums (in Japanese)].
| Insurance | Monthly pay ceiling | Bonus ceiling | Employee's share at the ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employees' pension | ¥650,000 (grade 32, monthly pay of ¥635,000 or more) → ¥680,000 from Sep 2027, ¥710,000 from Sep 2028, ¥750,000 from Sep 2029 | ¥1.5 million per payment (unchanged) | ¥59,475 a month → ¥68,625 from Sep 2029 |
| Health, long-term care and child support levy | ¥1,390,000 (grade 50, monthly pay of ¥1,355,000 or more) | ¥5.73 million per fiscal year, cumulative | ¥81,315 a month (age 40-64) |
| Employment insurance | None | None | 0.5% of pay and bonuses |
The ¥650,000 pension cap is roughly twice the average standard monthly remuneration of all insured persons, and 2.78 million people (6.5%) sit at it[MHLW, phased increase of the standard monthly remuneration cap (in Japanese)]. The pension reform law enacted in June 2025 set the three-step increase and also added a rule allowing the cap to be revised according to the share of people in the top grade, so ¥750,000 need not be the end[MHLW, outline of the pension reform law (PDF, in Japanese)]. The ¥1,390,000 health insurance cap is not changed by this reform.
The cap works on benefits too. Pay above ¥650,000 a month carries no premium, and it also adds nothing to the old-age employees' pension. How pensions flatten from around ¥10.4 million in salary is explained in how much employees' pension you will receive.
Bonus mix changes premiums by ¥480,000 a year: monthly pay stops at the cap, but each bonus counts up to ¥1.5 million
On the same salary, the split between monthly pay and bonuses makes a big difference. Monthly pay stops at ¥650,000 (pension) and ¥1,390,000 (health), but bonuses carry premiums up to ¥1.5 million per payment and ¥5.73 million per fiscal year.
| Annual salary | No bonus (monthly pay only) | Bonuses of four months' pay a year (two payments) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¥10 million | ¥1,346,360 | ¥1,541,000 | +¥194,640 |
| ¥15 million | ¥1,680,240 | ¥1,935,435 | +¥255,195 |
| ¥20 million | ¥1,789,480 | ¥2,272,240 | +¥482,760 |
| ¥30 million | ¥1,839,480 | ¥2,449,185 | +¥609,705 |
Employee's share, annual. With bonuses: monthly pay is salary divided by 16, with two bonuses of two months' pay each. The employer's share differs by the same amount.
On ¥20 million with four months of bonus, monthly pay is ¥1.25 million and each bonus ¥2.5 million. The pension part of monthly pay stops at ¥650,000, but each ¥2.5 million bonus carries pension premiums up to ¥1.5 million and health premiums on the full ¥5 million. Same salary, ¥480,000 more in premiums, and correspondingly more pension later.
Employees cannot choose the split, but companies set directors' pay. How the mix of monthly pay and pre-notified bonuses changes premiums, and the downside of a smaller pension, are covered in making director bonuses deductible with advance notification.
How to read the gap between 15% and 6%: the cap applies to benefits as well as premiums
A person on ¥5 million pays 15.3% and a person on ¥30 million pays 6.1% because public insurance pays out in proportion to what was paid in. Employees' pension grows with premiums, so stopping premiums at the cap also stops the pension. Health insurance, by contrast, pays the same benefits regardless of income, and charging up to ¥1,390,000 is about mutual support of the system's finances.
The 2027 increase moves the cap from about twice the average to about 2.3 times. The 2.78 million people affected pay up to ¥109,800 more a year, and pension finances improve. The extra pension pays back the extra premiums after roughly 17 years of receipt, around age 82, which is within average life expectancy.
What a high-earning employee can control is income deductions, which are worth more at higher tax rates. From December 2026 the iDeCo contribution cap for employees rises to ¥62,000 a month (less any corporate DC contributions); at a 43% combined rate (33% income tax plus 10% residence tax), ¥740,000 of contributions cuts tax by about ¥320,000. See the December 2026 iDeCo changes.
Summary
- The employee's social insurance share is 15.3% of salary at ¥5 million, 11.2% at ¥15 million and 6.1% at ¥30 million. Pension caps at ¥650,000 of monthly pay, health insurance at ¥1,390,000
- With no bonus, pension premiums are identical from ¥10 million up and health premiums from ¥20 million up. Even at ¥30 million, premiums stop at about ¥1.84 million a year
- Take-home is about ¥10.17 million (67.8%) on ¥15 million, ¥12.92 million (64.6%) on ¥20 million and ¥17.69 million (59.0%) on ¥30 million
- From September 2027 the pension cap rises in three steps to ¥750,000. The employee pays ¥109,800 more a year; in the 40% bracket, take-home falls by about ¥54,000
- On the same salary, four months of bonus means ¥480,000 more in premiums at ¥20 million, because each bonus is charged up to ¥1.5 million
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Sources
- Japan Health Insurance Association, "Fiscal 2026 premium table (Tokyo)" (PDF, in Japanese): grade table, rates and employee shares, bonus ceilings
- Japan Health Insurance Association, "Fiscal 2026 prefectural premium rates" (in Japanese)
- Japan Pension Service, "Employees' pension premiums" (in Japanese): 32 grades, ¥1.5 million bonus ceiling
- MHLW, "Fiscal 2026 employment insurance rates" (PDF, in Japanese)
- MHLW, "Phased increase of the standard monthly remuneration cap" (in Japanese) and "Outline of the pension reform law" (PDF)
- National Tax Agency, Tax Answer No. 1199 "Basic deduction" and No. 2260 "Income tax rates" (in Japanese)
All amounts are our estimates applying published rates, grade tables and tax rates. Companies with their own health insurance societies use different rates, and dependants and other deductions change the tax. For individual cases, check with your employer, the pension office or a tax professional.