If you have paid into Japanese pension and you are leaving, you can claim some of it back. The scheme is called dattai ichijikin (脱退一時金), and the two things that cost people money are a deadline and a piece of paperwork almost nobody is told about.
Who can claim
- You are not a Japanese national
- You paid at least six months of contributions
- You no longer have an address in Japan — the move-out notification must be filed
- You have never been entitled to a Japanese pension benefit
- You claim within two years of losing your Japanese address
The two-year deadline is strict and it is the commonest reason a claim fails. It runs from the date you stop having an address here, not from when you remember.
The cap, honestly stated
The payment is calculated on your contribution months, capped at 60 months — five years. Contribute for eight years and you are still paid on five.
You will read that this cap has risen to 96 months. Here is the accurate position: the extension to 96 months was enacted in the 2025 pension reform, promulgated on 20 June 2025. Its commencement is left to a Cabinet Order that has not been issued. The law allows up to four years from promulgation, so implementation is widely expected around 2029.
The tax agent step
This is the part worth real money.
Your lump sum is paid with 20.42 per cent income tax withheld at source. That withholding is reclaimable — but only through a Japanese tax return filed after the payment, which a non-resident cannot easily do from abroad.
The solution is to appoint a tax agent (納税管理人) before you leave Japan, by filing a notification with your local tax office. The agent — a trusted friend, a former colleague, a professional — then files the return on your behalf and receives the refund.
On a substantial claim this is a five-figure sum. It takes one form and it cannot be done retroactively once you have gone.
How to claim
- Before leaving: file your move-out notification at the ward office, and appoint a tax agent.
- Keep your pension book or number, and a copy of your residence card and the passport page showing your departure stamp.
- After you have left, send the claim form to the Japan Pension Service with certified copies, your bank details abroad in your own name, and proof you no longer hold an address in Japan.
- Wait. Processing commonly runs four to six months.
- Then the tax reclaim — your agent files using the payment notice you receive.
Think before you claim
Withdrawing erases the contribution record the payment covers. Two situations where that matters:
- You might come back. Months erased do not count towards the ten years needed for a Japanese pension, and permanent residency assessment looks at your contribution history.
- Your country has a social security agreement with Japan. Many do, and they let you aggregate periods across both systems towards a pension in either. Claiming the lump sum may destroy more value than it pays out. Check your country's agreement before deciding.
For someone leaving permanently with no agreement in place, claiming is usually right. For someone with a five-year stint who may return, it often is not.
The phrases
- 脱退一時金を請求したいです。 — Dattai ichijikin o seikyū shitai desu. — I would like to claim the lump-sum withdrawal.
- 納税管理人を届け出たいです。 — Nōzei kanrinin o todokedetai desu. — I would like to appoint a tax agent.
- 転出届を出したいです。 — Tenshutsu todoke o dashitai desu. — I would like to file my move-out notification.
Where to confirm this
- Japan Pension Service, international pages
- Our leaving-Japan checklist
- Our guide to NISA and iDeCo, which work differently on departure
Guides are dated rather than undated: last reviewed 13 September 2026. This is an organisational aid, not legal or immigration advice — always confirm anything consequential with your ward office, the Immigration Services Agency, or a qualified professional.