Leaving Japan Guide is a free, English-language tool and guide for foreign residents leaving Japan. It does two things nobody does usably in English: it estimates your 脱退一時金 (pension lump-sum refund) — including the 20.42% tax most people never reclaim — and it generates a personalized departure timeline so the sell-off, disposal, lease, accounts, and city-hall filings all happen in the right order, on time.
How we source the numbers
The load-bearing data is the 日本年金機構 (Japan Pension Service) 脱退一時金 rate tables. The National Pension amounts revise every April (they track the monthly premium, ¥17,920 for FY2026); the Employees' Pension 支給率 and the 60-month cap are encoded from the official tables and dated. The social-security-agreement country list — which decides whether claiming the refund forfeits pension credits you could carry home — comes straight from the 年金機構's published list. Every output is framed as an estimate, because the 年金機構 determines the actual award.
Where we make money, and where we don't
The pension and tax tools carry no commercial links — they exist to get you your money and get the paperwork right. When you're selling or clearing out your apartment, we show disposal (回収) and buyout (買取) services, and we're upfront about which is which: 回収 costs you money, 買取 pays you. We say that plainly rather than steering you toward the option that pays us. We also point you to sister sites in the same cluster — for selling a car, for the tax questions, for getting your deposit back — because a real move touches all of them.
Independence
This is an independent project, not affiliated with the 日本年金機構, any 税務署, city office, or government body. It is informational only — not legal, tax, or pension advice. Rules change and vary by municipality; always confirm with the official sources before you act.
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