If you’re a “full time” worker working more than 40 hours a week, you’re company is required to enroll you in shakai-hoken as far as I know. The benefits of shakai-hoken are that your employer is required to match what you pay into your pension, so they are basically paying half of your pension for you. Also if for some reason you are unable to work for an extended period of time, shakai-hoken pays out 60% of your salary for up to 18 months.

From what you’re saying I’m gonna assume you’re an ALT. If I’m wrong, please correct me.

The reason why some ALTs are on kokumin-hoken and some are on shakai-hoken has to do with what kind of contract they are on. If an ALT is on an “itaku” contract, only their in class hours count towards their work hours, but if they’re on a “haken” contract, any time they spend in school is considered their work hours.

When my contract switched from an “itaku” to a “haken”, my employer basically said I didn’t have an option but to join shakai-hoken.

Since I’m here for good, I didn’t have an issue with it. I was actually happy to do so cause being on shakai-hoken is something banks look for when you are looking to take out a loan. It proves that you’re working full time.

If you’re gonna be here for less than 3 years, I believe you’re eligible for basically a full refund of whatever you paid into the pension system, regardless of which kind of insurance you have.