Even Japanese who are out of Japan for a number of years cannot use that time towards qualifying for a "full" pension. What they can do is have that time (called "karakikan," not "karakan") count towards the minimum of 20-25 years that are required to qualify for any pension at all.
The amount that such individuals actually receive is prorated according to the actual number of years paid into the system, so someone who paid in for 15 years and was out of the country for 10 years would receive approximately 60 percent of a normal pension. This option is not available to non-Japanese.
While it is true, as mentioned in the article, that non-Japanese permanent residents can be treated as Japanese for this purpose, it is really a Catch-22: A non-Japanese who is out of the country for more than a year automatically loses permanent residency status!
Finally, P. Jaffe is quoted as saying, "I would have received only about ¥1.6 million, although I have paid nearly ¥6.8 million into the system." The total amount mentioned includes the matching funds paid by his school on his behalf.
Individuals who would like more information concerning this problem and the movement to revise the pension laws should see our Web site: Pension laws penalize foreigners
While we were happy to see the article "Foreign teacher push for equitable pensions" (Aug. 29) concerning our effort to push for more equitable pension laws for foreign workers in Japan, a few points which require correction and clarification.
THOMAS ROBB
Kyoto
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