Japanese state pension: possible to receive benefits with contributions < 10 years?

[kuma]

I stumbled upon this this exception to the rule of 10+ years of contributions required to receive benefits:

If you become a naturalized Japanese citizen or if you are admitted as permanent resident before you become 65 years old, your overseas residence period between April 1, 1961 and the previous day you become Japanese citizen, within your age between 20-59, will be considered as “complementary period”. The complementary period is the valid period to be included to see if you satisfy the 10-year period requirement to be entitled to the Old-age Basic Pension. However, this period is not considered in benefit amounts calculation.
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/pamphlet/kokun ... nglish.pdf

[Presumably it should read '...the day before you became a Japanese citizen or permanent resident...']

The source is an English-language pamphlet about kokumin nenkin on the nenkin.go.jp site, yet the main English page of nenkin.go.jp doesn't mention this exception. Has anyone seen this 'complementary period' cited in other sources? Or benefited from it? Or think they might benefit from it?

[RetireJapan]

I've been aware of it for a while (since before the 25 year vesting period became 10 years) and was thinking about applying for it, but I no longer need to as I am over 10 years of contributions now.

From what I read it seemed to be a fairly straightforward process... if you have 111 months of contributions (out of the necessary 120), for example, it would definitely be worth doing

[ricardo]

Hmmm.. I have PR but - currently - just under nine years of contributions. My annual statement always shows zero. Guess they don’t know I have PR so I would have to apply. Soon it will - like Ben - be irrelevant as I will have 10 years next year anyway.

[IloveJapan]

I think in principle you need to have been here ten years to obtain permanent residency (though of course they decide case by case) or three years if you have a Japanese spouse.

Kuma, I think you have been here 2-3 years so far if I remember right, so if you stay here a few more years then your Japanese pension entitlement will kick in automatically.

I have a feeling the sb at the kuyakusho once told me that foreigners are not allowed to make Japanese pension contributions from overseas. Its definitely sth they should change, if true. I’m not sure how that would change if you are a PR or citizen

[kuma]

Yeah, I’ll get PR some day. Ditto 10yr qualifying period, as has happened for Ben and will happen very soon for Ricardo.

Circulated to check info was correct and in case info is useful to others (though of course people wiser than myself have known about it for years), and out of curiosity to see if anyone here has benefited from it (eg moved to Japan quite close to retirement, or slipped through nenkin net for several years, or did a sub-10yr stint in Japan and were weighing up lump sum v small Japanese pension; in all cases got PR quickly due to spouse/points).

Thanks Ben, Ricardo and IloveJapan for the responses.