Two of the largest items on a Japanese payslip are social insurance contributions. They are compulsory, they are not optional benefits, and understanding them prevents the most common payslip shock.
This is general explanation, not advice for your case. Rules change and your circumstances differ - confirm with your employer, your municipal office, or the pension service.
Health insurance (健康保険)
Enrolment through your employer is compulsory for most SSW workers.
What it gives you: medical treatment at roughly 30% of the cost, with the insurance covering the rest. That applies to doctors, hospitals and prescriptions.
Carry the insurance card - 保険証 - whenever you might need a clinic. Without it you pay the full amount up front and reclaim later, which is a genuine cash-flow problem on a first salary.
There is also a high-cost medical expense system that caps what you pay in a month if something serious happens. It is worth knowing it exists before you need it.
Useful vocabulary for the day you do: hospital and clinic Japanese.
Pension (厚生年金)
Also compulsory, also deducted at source, and shared between you and your employer.
The obvious question from someone planning to stay five years: what happens to the money?
The lump-sum withdrawal payment
If you leave Japan having contributed for at least six months and without qualifying for a Japanese pension, you can claim a lump-sum withdrawal payment (脱退一時金) after departure.
Things to know:
- It is claimed after you leave Japan, within a time limit from your departure.
- It refunds part of your contributions, calculated on a formula - it is not a full refund of everything paid.
- Tax is withheld from it, and a portion of that withholding can often be reclaimed afterwards through a tax representative appointed before you leave.
- Some countries have social security agreements with Japan that change the calculation, sometimes in your favour. Check whether yours does.
That last point matters: claiming the lump sum can, under some agreements, cost you the ability to count those years towards a pension at home. Find out before you claim.
Why you cannot opt out
You will meet people who claim they avoid these deductions. Non-enrolment causes problems at visa renewal, because compliance with social insurance obligations is checked.
Unpaid contributions are a renewal risk, which makes this a visa issue rather than a money issue. Renewing your status.
Reading your payslip
Alongside these two you will see employment insurance, income tax and residence tax. Salary and deductions walks through a payslip line by line, and tax basics covers the tax side, including the residence tax that surprises people in their second year.
Keep every payslip. You will need them for renewals, for tax, and for the lump-sum claim.