Pension Lump-Sum Withdrawal
Foreign nationals who paid into Japan's National Pension or Welfare Pension can claim a partial refund after leaving Japan. Apply within 2 years of departure. Eligible only if you have not met the 10-year pension eligibility threshold.
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Steps
Download the lump-sum withdrawal claim form from the Japan Pension Service site and fill it in. The form is bilingual, pairing Japanese with any of English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Indonesian, Filipino (Tagalog), Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Khmer, Russian, Nepali or Mongolian. You can also have one posted to you by calling the Nenkin Dial, or pick one up at a pension office, a Street Corner Pension Consultation Centre, your municipal office, or a local international association
Attach the required documents and submit by post or electronically (on e-Gov, search the procedure finder for the pension benefit transmittal form, then pick the lump-sum withdrawal claim from the form-name list). Send it to Japan Pension Service headquarters or to the relevant mutual aid association — which one depends on the schemes you belonged to and for how long. If you came to Japan for something other than work, such as a trip, you can also hand it in at a pension office or a Street Corner Pension Consultation Centre
After the review, the payment is transferred to the account you designated
Important notes
You must meet all of the following: (1) you are not a Japanese national; (2) you are no longer insured under the Employees' Pension or National Pension; (3) you have at least 6 months of contributions — unpaid National Pension months do not count, and for the Employees' Pension the 6 months is the total including mutual aid association periods; (4) you have not reached the 10 years of coverage needed to qualify for an old-age pension; (5) you have never held the right to a disability basic or disability employees' pension (including the disability allowance); and (6) you no longer have an address in Japan
Deadline: no more than two years may have passed since you last ceased to be insured under a public pension scheme. If you still had an address in Japan on that date, the two years instead run from the first day afterwards on which you no longer had one — the day after your move-out date is the National Pension loss-of-coverage date, so the two-year window starts there
Once you receive the lump-sum withdrawal, your pension records for that period are erased. If you return to Japan and re-enroll, that period cannot be counted toward eligibility again
Nationals of countries with a social security agreement with Japan (including South Korea, Germany, France, and others) may be able to totalize pension periods instead of claiming a lump sum — check whether an agreement applies to your nationality
How the amount is worked out: for the Employees' Pension it is your average standard remuneration during the insured period multiplied by a payment rate, which rises in steps from 0.5 for 6 to under 12 months of coverage up to 5.5 for 60 months or more. For the National Pension it is the contribution rate for the fiscal year containing your last payment, halved, multiplied by a figure set for your band of months. Since April 2021 the cap on months used in the calculation rose from 36 (3 years) to 60 (5 years); where the final month or last contribution month falls before April 2021, the 36-month cap still applies