Life insurance in Japan for foreigners: what survivors' pension and sick pay already cover, what insurers ask foreign residents, and what happens if you leave.
Foreign residents can buy life insurance in Japan, but first check what the state already pays. As of October 2026, Survivors' Basic Pension gives a spouse with one child ¥1,091,100 a year, and workplace health insurance pays two thirds of pay for up to 1.5 years of sick leave. Lifenet accepts foreign nationals who live in Japan, with Japanese-only documents and support. We found no published visa or permanent residency rule at the insurers we checked. Lifenet cover continues abroad, but you register a contact address in Japan.
Life insurance in Japan for foreigners is open to you if you live in Japan, but check what the state already pays first. As of October 2026, if you die while paying into the pension, a spouse caring for one child gets a Survivors’ Basic Pension of ¥1,091,100 a year. Insurers’ own pages ask foreign residents mainly to live in Japan and to cope with Japanese-only documents. We found no published visa or permanent residency (永住許可) rule at the insurers we checked.
Survivors' Basic Pension, spouse with one child
¥1,091,100 a year
FY2026: ¥847,300 base + ¥243,800 for the first child (Japan Pension Service)
Your family’s first safety net is the public pension. National Pension (国民年金) covers everyone with an address in Japan aged 20 to 59, regardless of nationality, says the Japan Pension Service (日本年金機構). Its survivors’ benefit pages state no nationality condition.
Survivors’ Basic Pension (遺族基礎年金) goes to your spouse if they care for your child, or to the child directly. A “child” means until the first 31 March after their 18th birthday, or under 20 with a pension disability grade 1 or 2. FY2026 amounts (April 2026 to March 2027):
| Who receives it | Per year |
|---|---|
| Spouse with 1 child | ¥1,091,100 |
| Spouse with 2 children | ¥1,334,900 |
| Spouse with 3 children | ¥1,416,200 |
| 1 child alone | ¥847,300 |
Each child after the second adds ¥81,300. A spouse born on or before 1 April 1956 has a base of ¥844,900 instead of ¥847,300.
The catch: no child, no basic pension. A spouse without a qualifying child gets nothing from this part.
Survivors’ Employees’ Pension (遺族厚生年金) adds more if you were in Employees’ Pension (厚生年金) through your job. It pays three quarters of the earnings-related part of your old-age pension. If you had fewer than 300 months (25 years) of coverage when you died while insured, it is calculated as if you had 300. That matters for newcomers: a few years of work still count as 25.
It is paid in this order: spouse with child, child, spouse without child, parents, grandchildren, grandparents. They must have depended on your income. A childless wife under 30 receives it for 5 years only. A childless husband qualifies only if he is 55 or older, and is paid from age 60.
The contribution rule. Paid or exempted months must cover at least two thirds of your National Pension coverage period up to the day before death. There is a fallback: if death occurs on or before 31 March 2036 and you were under 65, it is enough to have no unpaid months in the last year (up to two months before the month of death). The Japan Pension Service’s Japanese pages (updated June 2026) give this 2036 date; its English page still shows the old March 2026 end. Unpaid months can still cost your family the whole benefit, so ask your pension office if you have gaps. Our pension guide for foreigners explains exemptions.
Two public benefits cover most of the cost of a long illness.
High-cost medical expense benefit (高額療養費). Workplace insurance and National Health Insurance (国民健康保険) both cap what you pay each month, based on income. From August 2026 to July 2027, for under-70s earning about ¥3.7 million to ¥7.7 million a year, the cap is ¥85,800 plus 1% of the bill above ¥286,000. On a ¥1,000,000 hospital bill, you pay ¥92,940. There is also an annual cap of ¥530,000 for this bracket. The brackets are split further from August 2027. More in our English-speaking hospitals guide.
Injury and sickness allowance (傷病手当金). If you are on workplace health insurance, such as the Japan Health Insurance Association (協会けんぽ, Kyokai Kenpo), and can’t work because of an illness or injury outside work:
Maybe. Many employers offer group insurance (団体保険). The employer is the policyholder, and you join through work. Group term life insurance (団体定期保険) pays on death or severe disability, according to the Japan Institute of Life Insurance (生命保険文化センター).
Ask HR for the plan’s name and the amount it pays. Each employer gives its plan its own name, such as “XX group insurance”.
We checked the public pages of three insurers on 24 October 2026. We found a published rule for foreign nationals at only one of them.
| Insurer | Foreign nationals | Japanese language | Visa, period of stay, PR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lifenet (ライフネット生命) | Can apply if they live in Japan | Policy terms, key documents and contact center in Japanese only | Not mentioned |
| AXA Direct (アクサのネット完結保険) | No published rule found in its FAQs | Not stated | Not stated |
| Prudential (プルデンシャル生命) | No published rule found in its FAQs | Not stated | Not stated |
Lifenet’s rules in detail:
Where an insurer publishes nothing, ask it directly before you apply: whether it accepts your status of residence (在留資格), whether the period on your residence card (在留カード) matters, and whether it gives support in English. Get the answer in writing.
| Term life (定期保険) | Whole life (終身保険) | |
|---|---|---|
| How long it covers | A set period, such as 10 years or to age 60 | For life, while you keep paying |
| Premium | Lower for the same cover; often rises at renewal | Higher; set at your age when you sign, usually fixed |
| Money back if you cancel | Usually none, or very little | A surrender value (解約返戻金), which can be less than you paid in |
Term insurance pays only if you die during the period. Whole life also builds a cash value, so cancelling it early can cost money. If you might leave Japan in a few years, keep that in mind.
Yes. The life insurance premium deduction (生命保険料控除) lowers your income tax. For policies signed from 2012, each category (life, medical and long-term care, private pension) gives up to ¥40,000, and ¥120,000 in total. From 2026 returns, if you have a dependent under 23, the life category can reach ¥60,000. Some policies shorter than 5 years don’t qualify. Claim it through your year-end adjustment. For your own case, ask the tax office (税務署) or a licensed tax accountant (税理士).
At Lifenet, your cover stays valid abroad as long as the contract continues, and a death abroad can be claimed with a local death certificate (a Japanese translation from an embassy may be needed). Its income protection insurance (就業不能保険) does not pay for a hospital stay abroad. Lifenet has an overseas line: +81-3-6371-3221.
The pension refund trade-off. When you leave, you may claim the lump-sum withdrawal payment (脱退一時金). Claiming erases your Japanese pension periods, so they no longer count for survivors’ or old-age pensions. See Japan pension refund and the leaving Japan checklist.
Be careful. Japan’s Insurance Business Act (保険業法, Article 186) says a foreign insurer with no branch in Japan may not insure people living in Japan, apart from some contracts set by Cabinet Order. Anyone in Japan who wants to apply to such an insurer must get government permission before applying. This is not individual advice: ask a licensed professional about your own case.
Yes, if you live in Japan. Lifenet, for example, says foreign nationals living in Japan can apply, but its contract documents and phone support are in Japanese only. People living abroad can't apply.
The Japan Pension Service pages state no nationality condition, and National Pension covers residents regardless of nationality. Your family qualifies if you meet the contribution rules: paid or exempted months for at least two thirds of your coverage period, or, for deaths up to 31 March 2036 under age 65, no unpaid months in the last year.
At Lifenet, cover stays valid abroad while the contract continues, but you register a relative's address in Japan and keep paying by a Japanese bank account or a credit card in your name. AXA Direct also requires a contact address and phone number in Japan.
Japan's Insurance Business Act says a foreign insurer with no branch in Japan may not insure people living in Japan, and you need government permission before you apply to one. Ask a licensed professional before signing anything.
Spotted something out of date or wrong? Email [email protected] and we will check it against the source. See our corrections policy.
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