On 22nd July, 1998, representatives of the Pension Forum and the Kyoto-Shiga branch of the Federation of Japanese Private University Labour Unions (F.J.P.U.L.U.) visited the head office of the Shigaku Kyosai Jigyoudan and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (M.H.W.) in Tokyo to present the case for a revision of the rules regarding pension contributions and benefits for foreigners working in Japan.

According to the Shigaku Kyosai Jigyoudan, the revision of the rules in 1995 permitting an increased lumpsum repayment to foreigners on leaving Japan represents an improvement on the previous situation and indicates that movement is already being made towards a more equitable system. They pointed out that any further changes would require revision of the legal code and would therefore be a matter for the government.

According to the M.H.W., because surveys conducted by the Management and Coordination Agency showed that around 85-90% of foreigners working in Japan leave the country within 3 years the current limited lumpsum repayment system was instituted in 1995. In reply to this, we pointed out that according to our survey 85% of foreign employees within higher education institutions have already been living and working in Japan for longer than 5 years, and 55% for longer than 10 years.

The M.H.W. representative provided us with the new information that some relief might by available to foreigners who are able to acquire �epermanent resident�f status. In such cases, part of the period prior to taking up residence in Japan may be available for inclusion in the 20-25 years required to qualify for pension benefits. We indicated that foreigners who are able to take advantage of this provision probably constitute only a small minority of those who are being penalised by the current system.

We were also informed that the Japanese government is currently engaged in negotiations with the US and British governments with a view to reaching bilateral agreements whereby years worked both in the home country and in Japan might be used together in calculating pension benefits. We pointed out that any such arrangements would not help nationals of other countries, and might come too late to help many US and British nationals.

We also learned that a committee, established by the M.H.W., is currently meeting to discuss the whole pension code, and will submit its report later this year with a view to legal revisions being instituted next year. It is not clear, however, that the provisions regarding foreigners are certain to come under consideration and so it is probably necessary that we should make some kind of representation to this committee.

We also questioned the basis of the rule requiring applications for the limited lumpsum repayment to be made within 2 years of leaving Japan, particularly since the usual limit on all other matters regarding pensions is 5 years. However, according to the M.H.W., the 2 year limit is in line with the rules applying to all lumpsum repayments.