①The right to receive a pension benefit is extinguished by prescription when five years have passed from the day on which the ground for its payment arose, and the right to receive payment of the pension benefit that is to be paid for each payment month based on that right is extinguished by prescription when five years have passed from the first day of the month following the payment month prescribed in the main clause of Article 18, paragraph (3) relating to the payment of that pension benefit that falls on or after the month following the month that contains that day.

②Prescription of the right to receive a pension benefit prescribed in the preceding paragraph does not run during the period in which payment of that pension benefit is suspended in its entirety.

③The provisions of Article 31 of the Public Accounting Act (Act No. 35 of 1947) do not apply to the right to receive a pension benefit prescribed in paragraph (1), or the right to receive payment of the pension benefit that is to be paid for each payment month based on that right.

④The right to collect a premium or other amount to be collected under the provisions of this Act, or to receive a refund of it, and the right to receive the death lump-sum payment, are extinguished by prescription when two years have passed from the time these rights can be exercised.

⑤A demand for payment under Article 96, paragraph (1) with respect to a premium or other amount to be collected under the provisions of this Act has the effect of renewal of prescription.

⑥The provisions of Article 32 of the Public Accounting Act do not apply to a premium or other amount to be collected under the provisions of this Act.

The provisions of the Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896) concerning periods apply mutatis mutandis to the calculation of a period prescribed in this Act or an order based on this Act, except where otherwise provided in this Act.

A mayor of a municipality (in the case of a designated city under Article 252-19, paragraph (1) of the Local Autonomy Act, the head of a ward or the head of a comprehensive ward) may, for the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, or for an insured person, a person who had been an insured person, or a person entitled to receive a benefit, provide, free of charge, certification concerning the family register of an insured person, a person who had been an insured person, or a person entitled to receive a benefit, or a child who falls under the requirements for payment of the survivors' basic pension or for addition to the amount of the disability basic pension or the survivors' basic pension, as specified by the ordinance of that municipality.

①An insured person must, as specified by Ministerial Order, notify, beyond the matters prescribed in Article 12, paragraph (1) or (5), the matters specified by Ministerial Order to the mayor of the municipality, in the case of an insured person other than a category 3 insured person, or to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, in the case of a category 3 insured person.

②The provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (2) and (4) apply mutatis mutandis to the notification under the preceding paragraph relating to an insured person other than a category 3 insured person, and the provisions of paragraphs (6) through (9) of that Article apply mutatis mutandis to the notification under the preceding paragraph relating to a category 3 insured person.

③A person entitled to receive a benefit, or the head of household of the household to which the person entitled to receive a benefit belongs, or another person belonging to that household, must, as specified by Ministerial Order, notify the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of the matters specified by Ministerial Order, and submit the documents and other articles specified by Ministerial Order.

④When an insured person or a person entitled to receive a benefit dies, a person obligated to notify of the death under the provisions of the Family Register Act (Act No. 224 of 1947) must, as specified by Ministerial Order, notify that fact to the mayor of the municipality, in the case relating to an insured person other than a category 3 insured person, or to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, in the case relating to a category 3 insured person or a person entitled to receive a benefit; provided, however, that this does not apply where a notification of death has been made under the provisions of that Act with respect to the death of an insured person or a person entitled to receive a benefit specified by Ministerial Order (limited to a case specified by Ministerial Order).

⑤The provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (6) through (9) apply mutatis mutandis to the notification under the preceding paragraph relating to a category 3 insured person. In this case, the term "category 3 insured person" in paragraph (6) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "one relating to the death of a category 3 insured person".

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, when the Minister finds it necessary, in connection with a disposition concerning the status as an insured person or a premium, order an insured person to submit documents concerning the expected date of childbirth, documents concerning the state of assets or income of the insured person, the insured person's spouse or head of household, or a person who had been any of these, or other articles, or have the relevant official ask questions of the insured person.

②The relevant official who asks questions under the preceding paragraph must carry an identification card, and must present it if requested by a person concerned.

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, when the Minister finds it necessary, order a person entitled to receive a benefit to submit documents or other articles concerning that person's personal relationships, state of disability, and other matters relating to the extinguishment of the right to receive it, revision of the pension amount, or suspension of payment, or have the relevant official ask the person entitled to receive it questions concerning these matters.

②The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, when the Minister finds it necessary, order a person entitled to receive the disability basic pension, or a child whose amount is increased by reason of being in a state of disability falling under the disability grade, or a child who has the right to receive the survivors' basic pension, or to whom the survivors' basic pension is paid, or whose amount is increased, by reason of being in a state of disability falling under the disability grade, to undergo diagnosis by a physician or dentist designated by the Minister, or have the relevant official diagnose the state of disability of these persons.

③The provisions of paragraph (2) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to a question or diagnosis under the preceding two paragraphs.

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, when the Minister finds it necessary in connection with the status as an insured person or a premium, request a government agency, a National Pension Affairs Association prescribed in Article 109, paragraph (2), a National Pension Fund, the National Pension Fund Association, the Agricultural Pension Fund, Independent Administrative Agency, a mutual aid association, etc., a health insurance society, or a National Health Insurance society to allow inspection of necessary documents or to provide materials, or request a bank, trust company, or other institution, or the spouse or head of household of an insured person, etc., or another person concerned, to make a report, concerning the name and address, the individual number (meaning the individual number prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (5) of the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (Act No. 27 of 2013); the same applies in the following paragraph), the dates of acquisition and loss of status, the state of payment of premiums or contributions, and other matters, of an insured person or a person who had been an insured person (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as "insured persons, etc."), a member or former member of a National Pension Fund, an insured person or former insured person of the farmers' pension, a member or former member subject to the provisions concerning short-term benefits under the National Public Officers Mutual Aid Association Act or the Local Public Officers, etc. Mutual Aid Association Act, a member or former member subject to the provisions concerning short-term benefits under the Private School Personnel Mutual Aid Association Act, or an insured person or former insured person of Health Insurance or National Health Insurance.

②The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, when the Minister finds it necessary in connection with a disposition concerning a pension benefit or a premium, request a government agency, a mutual aid association, etc., a mutual aid association prescribed in Article 28 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, or a health insurance society to allow inspection of necessary documents or to provide materials, or request a bank, trust company, or other institution, or the employer of an insured person, or another person concerned, to make a report, concerning: the state of assets or income of a person entitled to receive a benefit, an insured person, or the insured person's spouse or head of household; the state of payment to a person entitled to receive a benefit of an insurance benefit paid as a pension under the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, or of a benefit specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in Article 36-2, paragraph (1), item (i); the expected date of childbirth of an insured person; or the name and address, the individual number, and other matters of a person entitled to receive, or a person who had been entitled to receive, a benefit specified by Cabinet Order prescribed in Article 89, paragraph (1), item (i), a person who receives, or received, assistance specified by Ministerial Order prescribed in item (ii) of that paragraph (excluding assistance specified by Ministerial Order), a person who is admitted, or had been admitted, to a facility specified by Ministerial Order prescribed in item (iii) of that paragraph (excluding a facility specified by Ministerial Order), a person who receives assistance specified by Ministerial Order prescribed in Article 90, paragraph (1), item (ii), or a dependent under the provisions of the Acts listed in Article 7, paragraph (6), item (i) and items (iv) through (vi) of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act (Act No. 123 of 1997).

③The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, when the Minister finds it necessary in connection with the status as an insured person or a premium, request an employer to make the provisions of this Act known to persons employed by the employer, and to provide other necessary cooperation.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, when the Minister finds it necessary, request the minister having jurisdiction over mutual aid associations, etc. as implementing bodies to issue an order necessary for supervision concerning the report prescribed in Article 94-5, paragraph (1) relating to the mutual aid associations, etc. as implementing bodies over which that minister has jurisdiction, or to have the minister's officials audit the state of the operations of those mutual aid associations, etc. as implementing bodies.

Mutual aid associations, etc. as implementing bodies are to provide the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare with the necessary information concerning the fact that their insured persons have ceased to be category 2 insured persons.

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare is to conduct a necessary statistical survey concerning the actual state of payment of premiums relating to an insured person, a person who had been an insured person, or a person entitled to receive a benefit, and other matters specified by Ministerial Order, in order to achieve the purpose set out in Article 1.

②The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, when the Minister finds it necessary in connection with the statistical survey prescribed in the preceding paragraph, request a government agency to provide necessary information.

③In requesting the provision of information under the preceding paragraph, the Minister is to request the provision of information by a method that does not allow identification of the person surveyed.

The provisions of Article 30-37, paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 30-38, and Article 30-39 of the Residential Basic Book Act apply mutatis mutandis to the Basic Pension Number prescribed in Article 14. In this case, the term "prefectural governor" in Article 30-37, paragraph (2) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Japan Pension Service," the term "any person" in the provisions of Article 30-38, paragraphs (1) through (3) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "any person, except in a case specified by Ministerial Order as a case where use of the Basic Pension Number prescribed in Article 14 of the National Pension Act is particularly necessary for carrying out affairs concerning the administration of the government-administered pension programs prescribed in that Article, or affairs related to that program," and the term "prefectural governor" in paragraphs (4) and (5) of that Article and in Article 30-39, paragraph (1) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare," and, in addition, necessary technical replacement of terms are specified by Cabinet Order.

The Japan Health Insurance Association, a mutual aid association, etc. prescribed in Article 3, paragraph (2), and any other person specified by Ministerial Order, must not request any person to disclose the Basic Pension Number relating to that person or another person, except where necessary for carrying out affairs concerning the administration of the government-administered pension programs prescribed in Article 14, or affairs related to that program (in the case of a person specified by Ministerial Order among the persons specified by Ministerial Order, affairs related to the government-administered pension programs prescribed in that Article).

①A body whose members are insured persons engaged in the same type of business or work, or another similar body whose members are insured persons, that is specified by Cabinet Order, may, upon entrustment by an insured person who is a member of the body, make the notification under Article 12, paragraph (1) relating to that insured person.

②A body prescribed in the preceding paragraph (hereinafter referred to as a "National Pension Affairs Association") must, when intending to accept the entrustment prescribed in that paragraph, receive the authorization of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may rescind the authorization under the preceding paragraph, where the Minister finds that a National Pension Affairs Association that has received the authorization under that paragraph has neglected to process the affairs it is to carry out, or that its processing is significantly improper.

①A person who is found to be capable of properly and reliably carrying out affairs concerning the application under Article 90, paragraph (1) (hereinafter in this Article referred to as an "application for full exemption"), and whom the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare designates based on an application from that person (hereinafter in this Article referred to as a "designated full exemption application handler"), may, upon entrustment by an insured person or a person who had been an insured person who falls under any of the items of that paragraph (limited to a person specified by Ministerial Order; hereinafter in this Article referred to as "insured persons meeting the full exemption requirements"), make an application for full exemption relating to insured persons meeting the full exemption requirements.

②When insured persons meeting the full exemption requirements entrust a designated full exemption application handler with an application for full exemption, the application for full exemption is deemed to have been made on the day on which that entrustment was made, for the purpose of applying Article 90, paragraphs (1) and (2).

③When a designated full exemption application handler is entrusted with an application for full exemption by insured persons meeting the full exemption requirements, the designated full exemption application handler must, without delay, make that application for full exemption, as specified by Ministerial Order.

④The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, to the extent necessary for a designated full exemption application handler to properly and reliably carry out the affairs under paragraph (1), provide information concerning the fact that insured persons meeting the full exemption requirements fall under any of the items of Article 90, paragraph (1).

⑤If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that a designated full exemption application handler has neglected to process the affairs it is to perform, or that its processing is significantly improper, the Minister may order the designated full exemption application handler to take the measures necessary for improvement.

⑥If a designated full exemption application handler violates an order under the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may rescind the designation under paragraph (1).

⑦A designated full exemption application handler (or, where it is a juridical person, its officer) or its employee, or a person who was formerly one of these, must not, without justifiable grounds, divulge any secret that has come to their knowledge in connection with the affairs under paragraph (1).

⑧The procedure for the designation under paragraph (1) and other matters necessary for the enforcement of the preceding paragraphs are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①The State, local governments, a national university corporation prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the National University Corporation Act (Act No. 112 of 2003), a public university corporation prescribed in Article 68, paragraph (1) of the Local Independent Administrative Agency Act (Act No. 118 of 2003), a school corporation prescribed in Article 3 of the Private Schools Act (Act No. 270 of 1949), and any other juridical person specified by Cabinet Order, that the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare designates, on the application of that juridical person, as one found capable of properly and reliably carrying out the affairs concerning the application under Article 90-3, paragraph (1) (hereinafter in this Article referred to as an "application for the student payment special provision") (hereinafter in this Article referred to as a "student payment special provision processing corporation"), may, on entrustment from an insured person who is a student of a university prescribed in Article 83 of the School Education Act or other educational institution specified by Cabinet Order that it establishes (hereinafter in this Article referred to as a "student insured person"), make the application for the student payment special provision pertaining to that student insured person.

②If a student insured person entrusts a student payment special provision processing corporation with an application for the student payment special provision, for the purpose of applying Article 90-3, paragraph (1) and Article 90, paragraph (2) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 90-3, paragraph (2), the application for the student payment special provision is deemed to have been made on the day of that entrustment.

③If a student payment special provision processing corporation receives an entrustment of an application for the student payment special provision from a student insured person, it must, without delay, make that application for the student payment special provision as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

④If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that a student payment special provision processing corporation has neglected to process the affairs it is to perform, or that its processing is significantly improper, the Minister may order the student payment special provision processing corporation to take the measures necessary for improvement.

⑤If a student payment special provision processing corporation violates an order under the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may rescind the designation under paragraph (1).

⑥The procedure for the designation under paragraph (1) and other matters necessary for the enforcement of the preceding paragraphs are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①A body that has as its members insured persons engaged in the same kind of business or work, or any other similar body, specified by Cabinet Order, that the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare designates, on the application of that body, as one found capable of properly and reliably performing the affairs under the following paragraph (hereinafter in this Article referred to as a "premium payment verification organisation"), may perform the affairs under that paragraph.

②A premium payment verification organisation is to perform the affairs of ascertaining, upon entrustment from an insured person who is a member of that organisation or another similarly situated person, whether or not the premiums pertaining to that insured person have been paid by the due date for payment (referred to as the "fact of premium arrears" in the following paragraph), and notifying the insured person of the result.

③The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, in response to a request from a premium payment verification organisation, provide information concerning the fact of premium arrears to the extent necessary for the premium payment verification organisation to properly perform the affairs under the preceding paragraph.

④If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that a premium payment verification organisation has neglected to process the affairs it is to perform, or that its processing is significantly improper, the Minister may order the premium payment verification organisation to take the measures necessary for improvement.

⑤If a premium payment verification organisation violates an order under the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may rescind the designation under paragraph (1).

⑥An officer or employee of a premium payment verification organisation, or a person who formerly held such a position, must not, without justifiable grounds, divulge any secret that has come to their knowledge in connection with the affairs under paragraph (2).

⑦The procedure for the designation under paragraph (1) and other matters necessary in connection with a premium payment verification organisation are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①The following affairs under the authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (excluding the affairs that mutual aid associations, etc. are to perform under Article 3, paragraph (2), and the affairs that the mayor of the municipality is to perform under paragraph (3) of that Article) are to be performed by the Japan Pension Service; provided, however, that this does not preclude the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare from personally exercising the authority listed in item (xxi), item (xxvi), items (xxviii) through (xxx), item (xxxi), item (xxxii), and item (xxxv):

②If the Japan Pension Service finds it necessary, in order to effectively carry out the affairs concerning the authority listed in item (xxiv) of the preceding paragraph and the disposition in accordance with the precedent for the disposition for national tax arrears listed in item (xxv) of that paragraph (hereinafter referred to as "dispositions for arrears, etc."), and any other authority, among the authority listed in the items of that paragraph, that is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, it may, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, provide the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare with the information necessary for the exercise of that authority, and request the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to personally exercise that authority.

③If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds it necessary when a request has been made under the preceding paragraph, or finds that it has become difficult or inappropriate for the Japan Pension Service to perform all or part of the affairs concerning the authority listed in the items of paragraph (1) due to a natural disaster or other cause, the Minister is to personally exercise all or part of the authority listed in the items of that paragraph.

④If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare decides to personally exercise all or part of the authority listed in the items of paragraph (1) pursuant to the preceding paragraph, or decides not to exercise all or part of the authority listed in the items of paragraph (1) that the Minister is personally exercising pursuant to the preceding paragraph (excluding the case prescribed in the following paragraph), the Minister must give public notice of that fact in advance.

⑤If, with regard to dispositions for arrears, etc. that the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare has decided to personally exercise pursuant to paragraph (3), the person who is subject to those dispositions for arrears, etc. taken over from the Japan Pension Service has been identified, the Minister must notify that person of the fact that the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare will conduct dispositions for arrears, etc. pertaining to that person, and other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑥The handover of affairs concerning the authority listed in the items of paragraph (1), and other necessary matters, in the case where the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare decides to personally exercise all or part of the authority listed in the items of paragraph (1) pursuant to paragraph (3), or decides not to exercise all or part of the authority listed in the items of paragraph (1) that the Minister is personally exercising pursuant to paragraph (3), are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑦Beyond what is provided in the preceding paragraphs, matters necessary in connection with the performance by the Japan Pension Service of the affairs concerning the authority listed in the items of paragraph (1), or the exercise by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of the authority listed in the items of that paragraph, are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds it necessary for the effective collection of premiums and other amounts to be collected under the provisions of this Act, because there is a risk that a person liable for payment pertaining to dispositions for arrears, etc. and the authority listed in item (xxiii) of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, in the case where the Minister has decided pursuant to paragraph (3) of the preceding Article to personally exercise all or part of that authority, and, among the authority specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in that item, the authority further specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (hereinafter in this Article referred to as "dispositions for arrears and other dispositions"), is concealing their property for the purpose of evading the execution of dispositions for arrears and other dispositions, or because other circumstances specified by Cabinet Order exist, the Minister may, as specified by Cabinet Order, provide the Minister of Finance with information concerning that person liable for payment and other necessary information, and delegate to the Minister of Finance all or part of the authority for dispositions for arrears and other dispositions pertaining to that person liable for payment.

②If the Minister of Finance has exercised all or part of the authority for dispositions for arrears and other dispositions based on the delegation under the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Finance is to report the status of the execution of dispositions for arrears and other dispositions and its result to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③Paragraph (5) of the preceding Article applies mutatis mutandis to notification by the Minister of Finance where the Minister of Finance exercises all or part of the authority for dispositions for arrears and other dispositions based on the delegation under paragraph (1). In this case, the necessary technical replacement of terms and other matters necessary in connection with notification to a person who is subject to dispositions for arrears and other dispositions are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

④The handover of affairs concerning the authority for dispositions for arrears and other dispositions, and other necessary matters, in the case where the Minister of Finance decides to exercise all or part of the authority for dispositions for arrears and other dispositions based on the delegation under paragraph (1), or decides not to exercise all or part of the authority for dispositions for arrears and other dispositions that the Minister of Finance is exercising based on the delegation under that paragraph, are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑤The Minister of Finance delegates to the Commissioner of the National Tax Agency the authority delegated under paragraph (1), the authority under paragraph (2), and the authority under paragraph (5) of the preceding Article as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (3).

⑥The Commissioner of the National Tax Agency may, as specified by Cabinet Order, delegate all or part of the authority delegated under the preceding paragraph to the regional commissioner having jurisdiction over the place of residence of the person liable for payment.

⑦A regional commissioner may, as specified by Cabinet Order, delegate all or part of the authority delegated under the preceding paragraph to the district director having jurisdiction over the place of residence of the person liable for payment.

①If the Japan Pension Service performs dispositions for arrears, etc., it must obtain the authorization of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in advance, and must have a collection officer perform it in accordance with the regulations for the implementation of the disposition for delinquency, etc. prescribed in paragraph (1) of the following Article.

②The collection officer under the preceding paragraph is appointed by the president of the Japan Pension Service, with the authorization of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, from among the employees of the Japan Pension Service who have knowledge of the laws and regulations concerning dispositions for arrears, etc., and the knowledge and ability necessary for the practical work.

③If the Japan Pension Service has performed dispositions for arrears, etc., it must promptly report the result to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①The Japan Pension Service must establish regulations concerning the implementation of dispositions for arrears, etc. (hereinafter in this Article referred to as the "rules for carrying out dispositions for arrears") and obtain the authorization of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. The same applies when it intends to change these regulations.

②The rules for carrying out dispositions for arrears must state the time for making a seizure, the method for selecting the property to be seized, and other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as necessary to ensure the fair and reliable implementation of dispositions for arrears, etc.

③If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that the rules for carrying out dispositions for arrears approved under paragraph (1) have become inappropriate for ensuring the fair and reliable implementation of dispositions for arrears, etc., the Minister may order the Japan Pension Service to change those rules for carrying out dispositions for arrears.

①If the Japan Pension Service performs the affairs concerning the authority listed in item (xxi), item (xxviii), item (xxix), or item (xxxii) of Article 109-4, paragraph (1), it must obtain the authorization of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in advance.

②For the purpose of applying the provisions of the items of Article 72, Article 106, and Article 107, paragraphs (1) and (2), where the Japan Pension Service performs the affairs concerning the authority listed in item (xxi), item (xxviii), item (xxix), or item (xxxii) of Article 109-4, paragraph (1), the term "the relevant official" in these provisions is deemed to be replaced with "an employee of the Japan Pension Service".

①The authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in this Act (excluding the authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in Article 109-5, paragraphs (1) and (2), and in Chapter X) may be delegated to the Director-General of the Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (or, for the authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in Article 14-4, by Cabinet Order).

②The authority delegated to the Director-General of the Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare under the preceding paragraph may be delegated to the Director-General of the Regional Branch Bureau of Health and Welfare, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (or, for the authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in Article 14-4, by Cabinet Order).

③If the authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in Article 14-4 has been delegated to the Director-General of the Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare under paragraph (1) (including where the authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in that Article has been delegated to the Director-General of the Regional Branch Bureau of Health and Welfare under the preceding paragraph), the term "Social Security Council" in paragraph (3) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "a council specified by Cabinet Order established in the Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare".

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare is to have the Japan Pension Service perform the following affairs (excluding the affairs that mutual aid associations, etc. are to perform under Article 3, paragraph (2), and the affairs that the mayor of the municipality is to perform under paragraph (3) of that Article):

②If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that it has become difficult or inappropriate for the Japan Pension Service to perform all or part of the affairs listed in the items of the preceding paragraph due to a natural disaster or other cause, the Minister is to personally perform all or part of the affairs listed in the items of that paragraph.

③Beyond what is provided in the preceding two paragraphs, matters necessary in connection with the performance by the Japan Pension Service or the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of the affairs listed in the items of paragraph (1) are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①Notwithstanding Article 7, paragraph (1) of the Public Accounting Act, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, as specified by Cabinet Order, have the Japan Pension Service perform the collection, in the case specified by Cabinet Order, of premiums and other amounts to be collected under the provisions of this Act, the amount to be refunded due to an erroneous overpayment of a pension benefit, and other items specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (hereinafter in this Article referred to as "premiums, etc.").

②An employee of the Japan Pension Service who performs the collection under the preceding paragraph is appointed by the president of the Japan Pension Service, with the authorization of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, from among the employees of the Japan Pension Service who have knowledge of the laws and regulations concerning collection, and the knowledge and ability necessary for the practical work.

③If the Japan Pension Service has collected premiums, etc. under paragraph (1), it must, without delay, remit them to the Bank of Japan.

④The Japan Pension Service is to report the status of the performance of the affairs concerning collection and its result to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑤Beyond what is provided in the preceding two paragraphs, the Japan Pension Service must perform the collection in accordance with the regulations concerning the performance of the affairs relating to collection specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑥Beyond what is provided in the preceding paragraphs, matters necessary concerning the collection of premiums, etc. under paragraph (1) are specified by Cabinet Order.

The Japan Pension Service is to provide the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare with matters concerning the status as an insured person, matters concerning the exemption of premiums, and other information necessary in connection with the exercise of the authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Japan Pension Service must exchange necessary information and otherwise ensure close mutual cooperation, so that the National Pension program is conducted properly and smoothly.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare is to, with the cooperation of the Japan Pension Service, provide employees of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare who are engaged in affairs concerning the National Pension program with the training necessary to have them acquire and improve the knowledge and skills necessary to perform those affairs properly and smoothly.

When a Cabinet Order is established, or revised or repealed, based on this Act, the necessary transitional measures may be specified by Cabinet Order, to the extent judged to be reasonably necessary in connection with that establishment, revision, or repeal.

Except as otherwise specially provided in this Act, the procedure for the enforcement of this Act and other detailed rules necessary for its execution are specified by Ministerial Order.