This Act comes into effect on October 1, 2004; provided, however, that the provisions set forth in the following items come into effect on the dates specified respectively in those items:

①With respect to benefits in the form of pensions under the National Pension Act and pension insurance benefits under the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, a benefit level such that the ratio of the amount obtained by adding together the amount listed in item (i) and the amount listed in item (ii) to the amount listed in item (iii) exceeds 50 percent is to be secured into the future.

②The government is, when preparing the current budget status and projections report concerning the National Pension program under the provisions of Article 4-3, paragraph (1) of the National Pension Act as amended by Article 1, or the current budget status and projections report concerning employees' pension insurance services under the provisions of Article 2-4, paragraph (1) of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act as amended by Article 7, where it is projected that the ratio prescribed in the preceding paragraph will fall below 50 percent before the next current budget status and projections report is prepared, to review, in keeping with the purpose of the provisions of that paragraph, the end of the term under adjustment prescribed in Article 16-2, paragraph (1) of the National Pension Act as amended by Article 1, or Article 34, paragraph (1) of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act as amended by Article 7, and to take the end of the term under adjustment or other measures based on the result of that review.

③The government is, when taking the measures under the preceding paragraph, to review the state of benefits and the burden of costs, and to take the necessary measures.

①The government is, based on the deliberations of the Diet concerning the social security system, to conduct an integrated review of the social security system as a whole, including the state of the burden of taxes, premiums, etc. and of benefits, and, ensuring consistency with that review, to make the necessary review of the public pension system.

②In conducting the review of the public pension system under the preceding paragraph, the state of the system is to be reviewed with a view to the unification of the public pension system.

With regard to the application of Article 34, paragraph (1) and Article 79-4, paragraph (4) of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act as amended by the provisions of Article 7, the recalculation made in 2004 under Article 81, paragraph (4) of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act before amendment by the provisions of Article 7 is deemed to be the preparation of the current budget status and projections report under Article 2-4, paragraph (1) of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act as amended by the provisions of Article 7.

With regard to the amounts of the pension insurance benefits under the Employees' Pension Insurance Act for months on or before September 2004, the pension insurance benefits prescribed in Article 78, paragraph (1) and Article 87, paragraph (1) of the Supplementary Provisions of the 1985 Amendment Act, the pension benefits prescribed in Article 16, paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Supplementary Provisions of the Act Partially Amending the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, etc., the benefits that are pensions prescribed in Article 16, paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Supplementary Provisions of the Act for Abolishing the Mutual Aid Association Act for Employees of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Organizations, etc. in order to Integrate the Employees' Pension Insurance System and the Mutual Aid Association System for Employees of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Organizations (hereinafter referred to as the "2001 Integration Act"), and the special pension benefits prescribed in Article 25, paragraph (4) of the Supplementary Provisions of the 2001 Integration Act, the provisions then in force continue to govern.

①With regard to the pension insurance benefits under the Employees' Pension Insurance Act in each fiscal year through fiscal year 2014, if the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act as amended by the provisions of Article 7, the 1985 Amendment Act as amended by the provisions of Article 14, or the Act Partially Amending the National Pension Act, etc. (Act No. 18 of 2000; hereinafter referred to as the "2000 Amendment Act") as amended by the provisions of Article 27 (including cases where those provisions are cited or applied mutatis mutandis in, or followed under, other laws and regulations; hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as the "provisions of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, etc. as amended") is less than the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act before amendment by the provisions of Article 7, the 1985 Amendment Act before amendment by the provisions of Article 14, or the 2000 Amendment Act before amendment by the provisions of Article 27, as the terms are replaced under the provisions of the following paragraph (including cases where those provisions are cited or applied mutatis mutandis in, or followed under, other laws and regulations; hereinafter in this Article referred to as the "provisions of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, etc. before the amendment"), the provisions of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, etc. before the amendment remain in force and, notwithstanding the provisions of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, etc. as amended, that amount is to be the amount of these benefits.