How to get your Japan pension statement

ねんきん定期便 / 年金記録 (Nenkin Net)

Known in English as the Pension record and annual pension notice. Look for this name on the site — it may not be translated.

• Your Basic Pension Number (基礎年金番号), on your pension handbook (年金手帳) or any Japan Pension Service correspondence. Without it nothing else is possible, so find it first.
• Your My Number, if you had one, and the address of your last registered residence in Japan — the branch office responsible for that address handles your case.
• Your Japanese employers and dates, and whether you were in the Employees' Pension (厚生年金) or the National Pension (国民年金).

1. 1
   Start at the Japan Pension Service international pages

   The English international section is written for exactly this situation: someone who worked in Japan and now lives elsewhere.

   Open this page ↗
2. 2
   Retrieve your record with your Basic Pension Number

   Nenkin Net shows your contribution months. From abroad, a written request to the branch office for your last Japanese address is often the more reliable route than the online service.
3. 3
   Check whether you reach 10 years

   Japan's minimum qualifying period is 10 years. If you are short, a totalisation agreement with your other countries may bridge the gap — Japan has agreements with more than 20 countries.

   Open this page ↗
4. 4
   If you left Japan, check the lump-sum withdrawal deadline

   Foreign nationals who paid in for at least six months and have left Japan can claim a lump-sum withdrawal payment — but the claim must be made within two years of leaving. Taking it also erases those months from any future totalisation, so it is a real trade-off, not free money.

   Open this page ↗
5. 5
   Save the record

   Keep whatever the Japan Pension Service sends. If you later claim through a totalisation agreement, your other country's authority will need it.

You have lost your Basic Pension Number

The Japan Pension Service can trace it from your name, date of birth, and former addresses and employers in Japan. Old payslips or the pension handbook are the fastest evidence.

You are outside Japan and the online service will not accept you

Nenkin Net is built around a Japanese address. Written requests by post to the branch office for your last Japanese address are accepted from abroad, and the international section publishes the forms.

You already took the lump-sum withdrawal and now want a pension

Months covered by a withdrawal payment are gone for good and cannot be counted again. Check what remains rather than assuming the whole period was erased — later periods still count.

Whether Nenkin Net can be registered for from outside Japan without a Japanese address.

Upload the statement to your vault and we'll read the figures out of it — balances, benefits, vesting and retirement ages — and tell you what changed since your last one.