This is a translation of the Japanese original. The Japanese version is authoritative; figures follow Japanese tax law.
The word "social insurance" means, in the narrow sense, the health insurance and Employees' Pension that company employees join, and in the broad sense the five schemes that add long-term care insurance, employment insurance and workers' accident compensation insurance. Which of them you are in is decided almost entirely by whether you are a company employee, a sole proprietor, a part-timer or out of work, and by how many hours a week you work, and who pays how much of the premium differs as well. In October 2026 the 1.06 million yen wage requirement was removed from the coverage conditions for part-timers, and from October 2027 the scope widens to employers with 36 or more employees. This article sets out what the five insurances contain, and which of them you join and what you get in five positions (full-time employee, part-timer, sole proprietor, out of work, aged 65 or over), using Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and Japan Pension Service materials.
The short answer: one table for the insurance you join, who pays, and what you get
| Position | Medical | Pension | Long-term care (from 40) | Employment insurance | Workers' accident insurance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time employee (30 hours a week or more, etc.) | Health insurance (split evenly with the employer) | Employees' Pension plus the Basic Pension (split evenly) | Added on top of the health insurance premium | Covered (0.5% from you) | Covered (the employer pays it all) |
| Part-timer (20 hours a week or more, at an employer with 51 or more employees) | Health insurance | Employees' Pension | Same as above | Covered (20 hours a week or more) | Covered |
| Part-timer (under 20 hours a week, or under 30 hours a week at an employer with 50 or fewer) | A family member's dependent, or National Health Insurance | Category 3 insured (dependent of a spouse), or the National Pension | Added on top of the NHI premium, or included in the spouse's | Covered if 20 hours a week or more | Covered |
| Sole proprietor or freelancer | National Health Insurance (all on you) | National Pension, 17,920 yen a month (all on you) | Added on top of the NHI premium | Cannot join | Voluntary special enrollment only (optional) |
| Out of work, or just after leaving a job | National Health Insurance, voluntary continuation (2 years) or a family member's dependent, whichever you choose | National Pension (exemption and deferral available) | Added on top of the NHI premium | On the receiving side of unemployment benefits | — |
| Working at 65 or over | Health insurance (the Latter-Stage Elderly Medical Care System from 75) | Employees' Pension (covered up to 70) | Withheld from the pension (Category 1 insured) | Covered (since 2017) | Covered |
In the MHLW's classification, health insurance and the Employees' Pension are run by the Japan Health Insurance Association, health insurance societies and the Japan Pension Service and split evenly between worker and employer; long-term care insurance covers people aged 40 and over, with Category 2 insured (40 to 64) paying it together with their medical insurance premium; employment insurance covers workers with 20 hours a week or more and a prospect of 31 days or more of employment; and workers' accident compensation insurance covers every worker and is paid entirely by the employer[MHLW]. For a company employee the total taken from you comes to about 15% of pay, and the amounts are set out in how much social insurance premiums are by annual income.
What the five insurances contain: what each is for, and who pays
| Insurance | Main benefits | Premium (fiscal 2026, Tokyo example) | Who joins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health insurance | 70% of medical costs, sickness allowance (two thirds of pay), maternity allowance, the 500,000 yen childbirth lump sum, the high-cost medical expense benefit | 9.85%, split evenly with the employer (Japan Health Insurance Association, Tokyo) | Full-time employees, and short-time workers with 20 hours a week or more (at employers with 51 or more employees) |
| Employees' Pension | The old-age employees' pension (on top of the Basic Pension), the disability employees' pension, the survivors' employees' pension | 18.3%, split evenly | Same as above (up to age 70) |
| Long-term care insurance | Care services once you are certified as needing care (for ages 40 to 64, only for specified diseases) | 1.62%, split evenly (ages 40 to 64). From 65 the municipality collects it from your pension | Everyone aged 40 and over |
| Employment insurance | Unemployment benefits (the basic allowance), childcare leave benefits, family care leave benefits, education and training benefits, the continued employment benefit for older workers | 0.5% from you and 0.85% from the employer (general businesses) | Workers with 20 hours a week or more and a prospect of 31 days or more of employment. From October 2028, 10 hours a week or more |
| Workers' accident compensation insurance | The full cost of treating injury or illness from work or commuting, leave compensation (80% of pay), disability and survivors' compensation | Paid entirely by the employer (0.25% to 8.8% by industry; 0.3% for offices) | Everyone who works as an employee (including part-timers and day labourers) |
The biggest differences between health insurance and National Health Insurance are that National Health Insurance as a rule has no sickness allowance and no maternity allowance, and that with health insurance the employer pays half the premium. It is the same with pensions: with the Employees' Pension an earnings-related pension sits on top of the Basic Pension, and the disability and survivors' cover is thicker. A sole proprietor has neither that employer share nor that second storey, and instead builds it up personally through the National Pension Fund, iDeCo and the Small Enterprise Mutual Aid.
Checking whether you are covered: always for full-time employees, and "20 hours a week and 51 or more employees" for part-timers
- If your contracted weekly working hours and monthly working days are three quarters or more of a full-time employee's (30 hours a week or more as a guide), you join health insurance and the Employees' Pension whatever the size of the employer[Japan Pension Service]. People hired for a fixed term of two months or less are excluded.
- Even below the three-quarters rule, you join if you meet all of the following: (1) 20 hours a week or more; (2) you are not a student (night, part-time and on-leave students are covered); (3) monthly wages of 88,000 yen or more (abolished in October 2026); (4) your workplace has 51 or more Employees' Pension insured persons[Japan Pension Service, expansion of coverage for short-time workers].
- Employment insurance uses its own test: 20 hours a week or more and a prospect of 31 days or more of employment, with the size of the employer irrelevant. You are covered whether you want to be or not.
- Workers' accident compensation insurance has no conditions: even a single day of part-time work is covered, and there is no paperwork and no premium for you at all.
The employer-size requirement is being scaled down in stages under the pension reform act: 36 or more employees from October 2027, 21 or more from October 2029, 11 or more from October 2032, and abolition in October 2035[MHLW]. In other words, ten years from now the shape will be "anyone working 20 hours a week or more joins social insurance, regardless of how big the employer is". The abolition of the 1.06 million yen threshold and its effect on take-home pay are covered in what the 1.06 million and 1.3 million yen thresholds are and the minimum wage and the abolition of the 1.06 million yen threshold.
If you come off your spouse's dependent status (a health insurance dependent and Category 3 insured under the National Pension) and join health insurance and the Employees' Pension yourself, a monthly salary of 110,000 yen brings premiums of about 16,000 yen a month. In exchange you become eligible for the sickness allowance and the maternity allowance, and an Employees' Pension is added to your future income. If you work 20 hours a week or more at an employer with 50 or fewer employees, you stay a dependent unless the employer has become a voluntarily specified workplace.
Sole proprietors and people out of work: NHI plus the National Pension, and three choices right after leaving a job
Sole proprietors and freelancers join National Health Insurance (through their municipality or a trade-based NHI association) and the National Pension as Category 1 insured. The National Pension premium is 17,920 yen a month in fiscal 2026 (18,290 yen in fiscal 2027), while the NHI premium is set by your previous year's income and your municipality: in the 23 wards of Tokyo, an income of 4 million yen means roughly 500,000 yen a year[Japan Pension Service]. You cannot join employment insurance, and since November 2024 freelancers in any line of work have been able to take out voluntary special enrollment in workers' accident compensation insurance[MHLW, voluntary special enrollment].
Right after leaving a job you have three choices for medical insurance. (1) National Health Insurance (file within 14 days of the day after you leave). (2) Voluntary continuation of your health insurance (you need two months or more of continuous coverage, you apply within 20 days, it runs for up to two years, and you pay the whole premium yourself, with the standard monthly remuneration capped at 320,000 yen). (3) Becoming a family member's dependent (annual income under 1.3 million yen, among other conditions). Which is cheapest depends on your previous year's income and your family, and you can compare them in the three health insurance choices after leaving a job. For pensions you switch to the National Pension, and if you have no income you can apply for an exemption or a deferral (National Pension exemptions and deferrals).
What changes with age: 40, 65, 70 and 75
| Age | What changes |
|---|---|
| 40 | You become a Category 2 insured person for long-term care insurance, and the long-term care premium (1.62%, split evenly) is added to your health insurance premium, from the month containing the day before your birthday |
| 65 | Long-term care insurance switches to Category 1 and the municipality withholds it from your pension. Employment insurance has covered people aged 65 and over since 2017, and on unemployment it pays the older workers' job-seeking benefit (a lump sum) |
| 70 | Employees' Pension coverage ends (health insurance continues). For the pension reduction for working pensioners, the threshold is 650,000 yen from April 2026 |
| 75 | You move from health insurance to the Latter-Stage Elderly Medical Care System and pay the premium yourself (you cannot be a family member's dependent) |
Regional differences in the premium from age 75 are set out in the prefectural ranking of Latter-Stage Elderly Medical Care premiums, and the long-term care premium from age 65 in the municipal ranking of long-term care premiums.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is provided when a job advert says "full social insurance"?
It is generally used to mean that you can join all four of health insurance, the Employees' Pension, employment insurance and workers' accident compensation insurance. From age 40 long-term care insurance is added automatically. In part-time adverts, though, your weekly hours may leave you unable to join health insurance and the Employees' Pension, so check whether it is 20 hours a week or more and whether the employer has 51 or more employees.
Is there a way for a sole proprietor to join social insurance?
If you set up a company and pay yourself director's remuneration, you can join health insurance and the Employees' Pension (a micro-corporation). As a sole proprietorship it is National Health Insurance and the National Pension, and you cannot join employment insurance. Workers' accident compensation insurance is open to you through voluntary special enrollment. Some occupations can also join a trade-based NHI association, such as the one for literature and art, instead of municipal NHI.
Can I end up joining social insurance at a second job as well?
If the second job also meets conditions such as 20 hours a week or more and 51 or more employees, you join health insurance and the Employees' Pension there too, and the premium is apportioned across the two salaries added together. Employment insurance applies at only one workplace, your main one. There is an article on what happens when social insurance applies at two workplaces because of a side job.
Summary
- Social insurance comprises five programs: health insurance, employees' pension insurance, long-term care insurance, employment insurance, and workers' accident compensation insurance. Which ones apply depends on employment status and working hours.
- Full-time employees are covered regardless of company size. Part-time workers are covered if they work 20+ hours a week and meet conditions such as working at a company with 51 or more employees.
- Self-employed individuals are covered by National Health Insurance and the National Pension (¥17,920 a month); they cannot join employment insurance, and workers' accident insurance is available only through special enrollment.
- The company-size requirement will be lowered to 36 or more employees in October 2027 and abolished entirely in October 2035.
- At age 40, long-term care insurance premiums are added; at 70, employees' pension enrollment ends; and at 75, people move to the Late-Stage Elderly Healthcare system.
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Reference links (sources)
This article is based on the materials below. Because the coverage conditions change with the size of your workplace and the terms of your employment contract, please also check with your employer's HR department or a pension office.
Note: this article is general information. The premium rates are the fiscal 2026 Japan Health Insurance Association figures for Tokyo, and they differ for health insurance societies and in other prefectures.