Comments accepted until 00:00 on Oct 25, 2026 | MHLW, Community Welfare Division
On September 25, 2026, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) opened a public comment period on a draft Cabinet Order partially amending the Enforcement Order of the Social Welfare Act and related orders. The case number is 495260195, and submissions are accepted for 30 days, from 00:00 on September 25 to 00:00 on October 25, 2026, as a formal opinion-solicitation procedure under the Administrative Procedure Act. The listed legal bases are Articles 106-9-2, 106-9-3 and 106-10(2) of the Social Welfare Act as amended (Act No. 45 of 1951); Article 2(1)(iv) of the Enforcement Order of the Act on Proper Execution of Budgets Pertaining to Subsidies (Cabinet Order No. 255 of 1955); Article 148(2) of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act (Act No. 123 of 1997); and Article 7(4) of the National Government Organization Act (Act No. 120 of 1948). A Cabinet Order sets out the details delegated by statute; because the basis is cited as the Social Welfare Act "as amended," this draft aligns the enforcement order with a prior statutory amendment. The concrete wording changes are set out in the "draft order" and "outline" PDFs on the case page. The responsible office is the Community Welfare Division, Social Welfare and War Victims' Relief Bureau, MHLW (03-5253-1111).
Support and consultation systems based on the Social Welfare Act and the Long-Term Care Insurance Act are generally administered according to where you are registered as a resident, not your nationality, so foreign residents living in Japan with a status of residence are covered by local welfare consultation desks. This draft amends an enforcement order — a detail-level instrument — so counter procedures will not necessarily change right away. However, where provisions touch the budget and programme framework for community welfare, they can shape how municipalities run consultation services over the medium term. Start by opening the published PDFs to check whether any provision relates to you or your workplace. The opinion-solicitation procedure under the Administrative Procedure Act invites views "widely from the public," making it one of the few channels through which foreign residents can raise real-world problems — language barriers, lack of interpreters, difficult application forms — during rulemaking. The submission method, format and destination are set out in the submission guidelines, so read them in full before sending anything.
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e-Gov Public Comment website (Digital Agency) / Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — call for comments on the draft Cabinet Order partially amending the Enforcement Order of the Social Welfare ActThis article was edited and written by freegent Inc. based on the source above.