🏦 Pension Account Auto-Registration

❓ What is changing?

A revision to the Public Payout Account Registration Act now allows the pension deposit account already held by the Japan Pension Service to be passed from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to the Digital Agency and registered as your "public payout account" (kokin uketori koza) — the account the government uses to send benefits and refunds. Until now, recipients had to register such an account themselves, typically via Mynaportal. The revision reuses account details the government already has so no separate application is needed. Accordingly, the Japan Pension Service is mailing pension recipients a "Consent Confirmation Letter on Registering the Pension Deposit Account as a Public Payout Account" by simplified registered mail (kan'i kakitome), announced on 4 August 2026. The critical point: if you agree, you do nothing. If you take no action, your account details (bank, branch, deposit type, account number, account holder name) plus your name, My Number and other items specified by Digital Agency ordinance are sent to the Digital Agency, and the Digital Agency later mails you a registration result notice. Only if you do not want the registration must you act: tear off the "Statement of Non-Consent" at the bottom of the letter, apply the enclosed privacy seal, fill in the sender box on the reverse, and return it by the stated (approximate) deadline. Details of who receives the letter are on the Japan Pension Service notice page.

👥 Who is affected?

• ●Anyone receiving a pension from the Japan Pension Service who receives the consent letter
• ●Foreign nationals in Japan who receive their pension into a Japanese bank account
• ●People who do NOT want the pension account registered as a public payout account (return required)
• ●Family members who manage a pension recipient's mail and paperwork
• ●Recipients unsure whether their address or account change has been filed with the Japan Pension Service

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

For foreign nationals receiving a Japanese pension, the first thing to grasp is that doing nothing counts as consent. If you cannot read the Japanese letter and simply leave it, your account details and My Number will be sent to the Digital Agency and registered. Registration itself is designed to speed up benefit payments, but if you would rather not be registered without understanding it, you must return the slip in time. Second is delivery: the letter arrives by simplified registered mail, which requires in-person receipt, so repeated absence can mean the return deadline passes before you ever read it — and if you moved without filing a change of address with the Japan Pension Service, it will not reach you at all. Third, municipal offices and pension offices do not handle this matter; the dedicated toll-free line is the main contact point, so ask a Japanese-speaking family member or supporter to sit in on the call if you are not confident on the phone. Finally, watch for fraud: the Japan Pension Service, MHLW and the Digital Agency never ask for account numbers or fees by phone, SMS or email.