Japan Pension Withdrawal or Record Preservation Calculator

Review cash and records before withdrawing a Japanese pension

A lump-sum withdrawal from Japan’s Employees’ Pension can help pay for a move or immediate living costs after returning to Korea.
The decision also gives up past Japanese pension enrollment that could otherwise matter if you work in Japan again.
This calculator separates months used to select the payment rate from all months erased, and compares each option’s distance from the basic 120-month old-age pension qualifying period.
It applies Japanese rules verified in 2026, specifically to Korean nationals within the supported scope.

Supported records and cases requiring individual review

Outside scope does not mean no benefit exists; it means this tool cannot calculate your case.
Reconcile missing history before consulting JPS, and do not omit some records to make a mixed case appear supported.

Basic Employees’ Pension withdrawal conditions

• You must not hold Japanese nationality and must have at least six months of Employees’ Pension coverage.
• You must no longer be insured under a Japanese public pension and must have no address in Japan.
• You must not satisfy the basic ten-year, or 120-month, old-age qualifying period.
• You must never have held a pension entitlement, including a disability pension or disability allowance.
• The claim must meet the basic two-year filing period, subject to verification of actual receipt.

These conditions operate together.
Someone with 119 paid months might already have 120 qualifying months because other qualifying periods count.
Short contribution history alone therefore cannot establish withdrawal eligibility.
Address and insurance status must also be checked on actual receipt; a basic-condition candidate is not a payment award or an application service.

Insured months and qualifying periods are different

Without record confirmation, the qualifying-period comparison remains N/A.
The tool does not fill missing facts with favorable assumptions.
Permanent residence and qualifying non-contribution periods can require individual assessment by the pension office.
Korean National Pension coverage is not added.
The Korea–Japan social security agreement eliminates dual coverage but does not totalize pension coverage periods, so Korean contribution months cannot automatically fill the Japanese 120-month shortfall.

Average standard remuneration and six-month payment brackets

Five and six months produce different eligibility outcomes; 59 and 60 months also use different payment brackets.
The remainder outside a selected six-month bracket differs from months above the cap.
For example, 59 months uses the 54-month bracket, while 61 months uses the 60-month cap, but withdrawal would erase all 59 or 61 months respectively.
A bracket comparison does not establish whether further employment or continued coverage is possible.

20.42% withholding, initial cash and a possible tax refund

Japan’s National Tax Agency No.12005 explains a possible refund through an elective return under Income Tax Act Article 171, using a tax agent in Japan and the withdrawal entitlement notice.
This does not guarantee full recovery of withholding.
Other retirement income and return details can affect the outcome.
Enter only a refund confirmed by notice and check the confirmation box.
An unconfirmed positive entry is excluded, and a possible future refund is not counted as initial cash.

Displayed amounts are reference estimates to two decimal places.
Official fractional-yen treatment, the award, conversion timing, intermediary fees and final bank receipt may differ.
The exchange input is KRW per 100 JPY, not per yen, and is not a live quote.
Do not deduct a fee again from the KRW result if it was already entered in JPY.

A 90-month example: compare the lost record with the cash

Preserving records produces no immediate withdrawal cash but retains history that might support a future choice.
It does not itself create entitlement: actual future coverage, pension age and other conditions still matter.
A family with uncertain return-to-work plans may reasonably assess the same cash estimate differently from one with verified plans.

The basic two-year deadline and actual receipt

The basic origin is the final public pension disqualification date.
If you still had an address in Japan then, use the first date you no longer had one after disqualification.
For example, loss of both coverage and address on 2026-10-01 produces a basic reference deadline of 2028-10-01.
Adding two years from a leap day uses the last day of February in the resulting year as the reference date.

Build a review worksheet step by step

1. Collect enrollment history, disqualification notices, moving-out records and standard remuneration and bonus records.
2. Check nationality, address, current coverage, past entitlements and supported scope; enter official dates.
3. Separate total insured months from the two qualifying periods confirmed by JPS. Leave unknown periods blank.
4. Enter remuneration, costs, exchange quote and any confirmed refund; state the assumed future coverage months.
5. Compare again and read cash, all erased months, both shortfalls and the deadline together.
6. Save the worksheet with assumptions, discuss it with family and consult JPS before deciding whether to claim.

When inputs change, results and export controls wait for a fresh comparison.
Keep the review date and verification status with your worksheet to avoid treating an old scenario as the result of new inputs.
Do not enter personal pension numbers or bank account numbers here; prepare sensitive official application details separately.

Optional cumulative comparison using verified future benefits

Future pension amounts are never inferred from enrollment months alone.
Both options need verified monthly benefits, start months and total additional contributions, plus explicit confirmation.
An option with a positive benefit must meet 120 qualifying months after the proposed coverage.
Future coverage is assumed consecutive from the review month and completed before benefits start.
Hold the comparison if actual contribution timing, pension age or the office’s assessment differs from those assumptions.

As a fictional example, assume preservation pays 50,000 JPY monthly from 2029-05 and costs 600,000 JPY extra; withdrawal has zero new pension and zero additional cost, with current net cash of 1,303,070 JPY.
Thirty future coverage months from 2026-11 would finish before the preservation benefit starts.
Preservation first catches up in comparison month 69, or 2032-07.
This is nominal arithmetic, not a verified personal award: future tax, inflation, discounting, mortality and exchange changes are excluded.
Missing or inconsistent facts leave the comparison on hold.

Planning tips and pending reform

Japan’s 2025 pension reform includes a planned restriction during valid re-entry permission and a planned cap increase from five to eight years.
Distinguish proposed commencement from rules currently in operation.
The JPS table checked on 2026-11-05 still uses 60 months; this tool does not apply a 96-month cap.
Re-entry permit cases are held for individual review instead of automatically rejected.
A review date later than the verified date also requires a rule update check.
Korean taxation of overseas pensions, final Japanese retirement-income tax, disability or survivor benefits and repeated withdrawals are excluded.

Frequently asked questions