Japan Press Weekly

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2026 February 11 - 17 [POLITICS]

Gov’t seeks to exclude foreigners from welfare protection program

Welfare and Health Minister Ueno Kenichiro has recently indicated his intent to consider reviewing the social welfare eligibility requirements for foreign residents in Japan, with the aim of restricting the provision of public assistance to foreigners in need.

As stipulated in the law, public assistance is provided to “Japanese citizens”. However, from the humanitarian viewpoint, foreign nationals with specific legal status in Japan who are living in poverty can apply for the assistance program.

In the past decade, the number of foreign residents in Japan who are on welfare decreased to the 65,000 level from a peak of over 75,000.

Among non-Japanese citizens receiving welfare benefits, half are Korean residents in Japan. Many of them are elderly with little or no pension. In the background are undeniable historical facts. Although Koreans were forced to hold Japanese nationality under the decades of Japanese colonial rule, those who remained in Japan were deprived of their citizenship by the Japanese government after the war and were classified as aliens. In the early 1980s when the nationality clause was eliminated from the pension program, no transitional measures were taken, leaving many Korean elderly without pension benefits.

It is highly likely that with the government move to review the eligibility, foreign residents living in poverty will be excluded from receiving public livelihood assistance.

Furthermore, the government in April will tighten rules regarding the payment of national health insurance premiums by foreign nationals. It also suggests denying foreigners residency status renewal if they are delinquent in insurance payments.

Under the tightened rules aimed at preventing foreigners’ non-payment of insurance premiums, foreigners will be required to prepay up to one year of national health insurance premiums upon their first year of entry; they may face penalties if they fail to make an advance payment; and their payment information will be considered in the residency application approval process.

Government data indicate that among foreign residents participating in the national health insurance program, 37% are in arrears with insurance premium payments.