Social Security Agreements for Chefs Sent Abroad from Japan

When a Japanese restaurant company sends a chef to an overseas restaurant, or a restaurant abroad takes on a chef who stays employed by a Japanese company, one question goes straight to labour cost: will pension and health insurance contributions be due in both Japan and the host country? The answer depends on whether Japan has a social security agreement (shakai hosho kyotei) with that country.

This guide explains how the agreements work, limited to what matters when sending or hiring chefs, based on material from the Japan Pension Service and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

1. The two problems an agreement solves

According to the Japan Pension Service, the agreements have two aims.

• Preventing double coverage: employees sent abroad by Japanese companies may otherwise have to join both countries' schemes and pay contributions twice. The agreement decides which country's scheme applies.
• Totalising pension periods: where a pension needs a minimum contribution period, periods in both countries can be added together to help meet it.

The agreements with the UK, South Korea, China and Italy cover only the prevention of double contributions and do not totalise periods.

2. Countries with and without an agreement

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, agreements were in force with these 24 countries as of 2 June 2026.

In addition, an agreement with Poland was signed in April 2026, negotiations are under way with Turkey, Norway and Vietnam, and preliminary talks are listed with Thailand.

Several major markets for Japanese restaurants have no agreement, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the UAE. When a Japanese company sends a chef to one of these, there is no coordination under an agreement.

3. The schemes covered differ by country

Each agreement covers different schemes, and anything not covered is applied under each country's own law. From the Japan Pension Service's list, for countries with many Japanese restaurants:

For a secondment to the UK, for example, the pension may stay entirely in Japan, but schemes outside the agreement are handled under UK law. An agreement does not necessarily mean no local social insurance at all.

4. Who joins which system

According to the Japan Pension Service, the basic rule is that a worker joins only the scheme of the country where they work. The exception is a temporary assignment by a Japanese employer.

Individual agreements add their own rules.

• Australia: even if the assignment is expected from the start to exceed five years, the employee stays in the Japanese system only for the first five years.
• United States: to be exempt from the US system, the employee must, as a rule, have worked or lived in Japan and been covered by Japanese social insurance for at least six continuous months immediately before the assignment. Extensions beyond five years run up to three years, or more than three and up to four years, depending on the circumstances.
• Self-employed people: the agreements with Australia, India and China do not cover the self-employed. An owner chef running their own restaurant abroad as a self-employed person should check the rule country by country.

If an extension is refused and the employee has to join the host country's pension, a special arrangement lets them stay in the Japanese employees' pension on a voluntary basis. The host country's scheme is then compulsory and the Japanese one voluntary.

5. Getting a certificate of coverage

To be exempt from the host country's scheme on a temporary assignment, the employee needs a certificate of coverage (tekiyo shomeisho) showing they are in the Japanese system.

1. The Japanese employer submits the application. It can be lodged from about six months before the planned start date.
2. For employees' pension applications, the postal address is the Japan Pension Service social security agreement section in Chofu, Tokyo. In person submissions and enquiries go to the nearest pension office. National pension applications go to the nearest pension office.
3. The employee gives the certificate to the workplace in the host country, and shows it to the authorities when asked.
4. To extend the assignment, the employer files an application to continue or extend the certificate. A lost certificate needs a reissue application.

Where an employee instead joins only the host country's scheme, for example on a long assignment, the employer files a loss of coverage notice for employees' pension and health insurance with the pension office, selecting "social security agreement" as the reason and showing evidence of enrolment in the host country's scheme.

6. Common cases in Japanese restaurants

For the difference between secondment and local hire, see secondment vs local hire. For health insurance, see pension and health insurance for chefs working abroad, and for country staffing plans, our Los Angeles and Sydney opening guides.

General information, not social insurance advice. Each agreement works differently and they are amended from time to time. Check the official sources below, verified in September 2026, and consult the pension office or a sharoshi (labour and social security attorney).