①A place of business or an office (hereinafter referred to simply as a "place of business"), or a ship falling under any of the following items is an applicable place of business:

②The owner of a ship as prescribed in item (iii) of the preceding paragraph is deemed to be an employer with an applicable place of business.

③An employer with a place of business other than as referred to in paragraph (1) may make the place of business an applicable place of business with the approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

④If an employer with a place of business seeks the approval referred to in the preceding paragraph, it must file an application with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare with the consent of at least one-half of the persons (excluding the persons prescribed in Article 12) employed at the place of business.

If an applicable place of business under paragraph (1), item (i) or (ii) of the preceding Article has ceased to fall under either of the relevant items, that place of business is deemed to have been given approval under paragraph (3) of that Article.

①An employer with an applicable place of business as referred to in Article 6, paragraph (3) may cause the place of business to cease to be an applicable place of business with the approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②If an employer with a place of business seeks the approval referred to in the preceding paragraph, the employer must file an application with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare with the consent of at least three-quarters of the persons (excluding the persons prescribed in Article 12) employed at the place of business.

①If the employer is the same for two or more applicable places of business (other than ships), the employer may treat those two or more places of business as one applicable place of business with the approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②If the approval referred to in the preceding paragraph has been obtained, the relevant two or more applicable places of business are deemed to have ceased to be applicable places of business as referred to in Article 6.

If the owner is the same for two or more ships, those two or more ships are treated as one applicable place of business. In such a case, those two or more ships are deemed not to be an applicable place of business as referred to in Article 6.

A person under 70 years of age who is employed at an applicable place of business is an insured covered by employees' pension insurance.

①A person under 70 years of age who is employed at a place of business other than an applicable place of business may become an insured covered by employees' pension insurance with the approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②In order to obtain the approval referred to in the preceding paragraph, the relevant person must gain the consent of the employer of the place of business.

An insured under the provisions of the preceding Article may forfeit status as an insured with the approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 9 and Article 10, paragraph (1), a person falling under one of the following items is not an insured covered by employees' pension insurance:

①An insured under the provisions of Article 9 acquires the status of an insured on the day on which the person comes to be employed at an applicable place of business, the day on which the relevant place of business becomes an applicable place of business, or the day on which the person ceases to be subject to the provisions of the preceding Article.

②An insured under the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (1) acquires the status of an insured on the day on which the approval referred to in that paragraph is obtained.

An insured as under the provisions of Article 9 or Article 10, paragraph (1) forfeits the status as an insured on the day following the day on which the person comes to fall under one of the following items (or on the day itself if, on the day on which the fact occurred, the person had already come to fall under the preceding Article or had already come to fall under item (v)):

If an insured employed at the same applicable place of business undergoes a change in insured category (meaning the classification of whether the person is a category I EPI insured, a category II EPI insured, a category III EPI insured, or a category IV EPI insured; the same applies hereinafter), the provisions of the preceding two Articles apply for each insured category.

①Acquisition and forfeiture of status as an insured become effective by virtue of a confirmation by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare; provided, however, that this does not apply to status as an insured acquired pursuant to the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (1), nor to forfeiture of status as an insured due to the person having come to fall under Article 14, item (iii).

②The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare makes a confirmation as referred to in the preceding paragraph based on a notification under the provisions of Article 27 or a request under the provisions of Article 31, paragraph (1), or on the minister's own authority.

③The provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Act No. 88 of 1993) Chapter III (other than Articles 12 and 14) do not apply to the confirmation referred to in paragraph (1).

④The provisions of the preceding three paragraphs do not apply to the acquisition or forfeiture of status as a category II EPI insured, a category III EPI insured, or a category IV EPI insured.

①Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 13, a category II EPI insured, a category III EPI insured, or a category IV EPI insured does not simultaneously acquire the status of a category I EPI insured .

②If a category I EPI insured comes to acquire the status of a category II EPI insured, a category III EPI insured, or a category IV EPI insured, the category I EPI insured forfeits their status as a category I EPI insured on that date.

①When an insured period is calculated, this is done in months; the months from that in which a person acquires the status of an insured to the month preceding that in which the person forfeits that status are used to calculate it.

②If, in the same month that a person has acquired the status of an insured, the person forfeits that status, that month is calculated as a one-month long insured period; provided, however, that this does not apply if the person acquires the status of an insured or an insured under a National Pension (excluding a category II insured specified in Article 7, paragraph (1) item (ii) of the National Pension Act) again in that month.

③For a person who has acquired the status of an insured again after having forfeited that status, the previous and subsequent insured periods are added up.

④The provisions of the preceding three paragraphs apply for each insured category.

⑤Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2) that were to have been applied pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if a person has undergone a change of insured categories in the same month, that month is deemed to be a month in which the insured was under the insured category from after the change (if the insured has undergone a change of insured categories twice or more in the same month, that month is deemed to be a month in which the insured was under the last of those insured categories).

②If, as of March 31 of any year, an amount equivalent to 200 percent of the average standardized monthly amount of remuneration for all insureds exceeds the standardized monthly amount of remuneration in the highest standardized monthly remuneration grade, and it is found that those circumstances will continue, the grade classification of the standardized monthly amount of remuneration may be revised to add an additional grade above the highest grade, in accordance with Cabinet Order and in consideration of the grade classifications of the standardized monthly amount of remuneration under Article 40, paragraph (1) of National Health Insurance Act (Act No. 70 of 1922), beginning September 1 of that year.

①Every year, the implementing organization decides an insured's standardized monthly amount of remuneration based on the insured's amount of monthly remuneration, which is calculated by dividing the total remuneration which the insured receives during a three-month period prior to July 1 in the year in question at the place of business where the insured is actually employed as of that date by the number of months in that period (the period mentioned above is limited to a period during which the insured was continuously employed at the place of business; and, if there is any month which has fewer than seventeen days (or fewer than eleven days, for a person as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; the same applies for Article 23, paragraph (1), Article 23-2, paragraph (1) and Article 23-3, paragraph (1)) which forms the basis for the remuneration of remuneration, that month is excluded from the abovementioned period).

②The standardized monthly amount of remuneration decided upon pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph is the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for each month from September of that year to August of the next year.

③The provisions of paragraph (1) do not apply to a person who has acquired the status of an insured between June 1 and July 1, nor to those a person whose standardized monthly amount of remuneration is or will be revised in any month between July and September pursuant to the provisions of Article 23, Article 23-2 or Article 23-3, but only in the year in question.

①When a person acquires the status of an insured, the implementing organization decides that person's standardized monthly amount of remuneration by taking the amount provided for in each of the following items to be the amount of monthly remuneration:

②A standardized monthly amount of remuneration that has been determined pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph is the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for each month from the month in which the person acquired the status of an insured until August of that year (or until August of the next year, for a person who acquired the status of an insured between June 1 and December 31).

①If the amount arrived at when the total amount of remuneration an insured has received during a continuous period of three months at the place of business at which the insured is employed at the time in question (the number of days forming the basis for the payment of remuneration is seventeen days or more in each month) is divided by three is significantly higher or lower than the amount of monthly remuneration that formed the basis for the standardized monthly amount of remuneration and the implementing organization finds it to be necessary to do so, it may regard the amount so calculated as the amount of monthly remuneration and revise the amount of standardized remuneration beginning in the month following the month in which that significant high or low occurred.

②A standardized monthly amount of remuneration that has been revised in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph is the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for each month up until August of that year (or up until August of the following year, for standardized monthly amounts of remuneration revised in any month from July to December).

①Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 21, if, on the day on which an insured's childcare leave as provided for Article 2, item (i) of the Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members (Act No. 76 of 1991; hereinafter referred to in this paragraph as the "Childcare/Caregiver Leave Act"); leave based on measures equivalent to the system of childcare leave under the provisions of Article 23, paragraph (2) of the Childcare/Caregiver Leave Act or based on measures taken, pursuant to the provisions of Article 24, paragraph (1) (limited to the part pertaining to item (ii)) of the Childcare/Caregiver Leave Act, under the system of childcare leave provided for in item (ii) of that paragraph; childcare leave under the provisions of Article 3, paragraph (1) of the Act on Childcare/Parental Leave of Diet Officers (Act No. 108 of 1991); childcare leave under the provisions of Article 3, paragraph (1) of the Act on Childcare/Parental Leave of National Public Officers (Act No. 109 of 1991) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 27, paragraph (1) of that Act and the Act on Temporary Measures concerning Court Officials (Act No. 299 of 1951) (limited to the part pertaining to item (vii))); childcare leave under the provisions of Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Act on Childcare/Parental Leave of Local Public Officers (Act No. 110 of 1991); or childcare leave under the provisions of Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Act on Childcare/Parental Leave of Judges (Act No. 111 of 1991) (hereinafter referred to as "childcare/parental leave") ends (hereinafter referred to as the "childcare/parental leave end date" in this Article), the insured whose childcare/parental leave has ended is raising the child provided for in Article 2 item (i) of the Childcare/Caregiver Leave Act or person prescribed by Cabinet Order as being similar thereto (referred to as the "child" in Article 26) who is under three years of age and for whom the insured was taking that childcare/parental leave, and the insured files a request with the implementing organization as provided for by order of the competent ministry through the employer of the place of business at which the insured is employed, the implementing organization revises the insured's standard amount of remuneration by regarding the amount arrived at when the total amount of remuneration during the three-month period beginning from the month in which the day following the childcare/parental leave end date falls (limited to a period during which the insured continues to be employed at the place of business at which the insured was employed on the day following the childcare/parental leave end date, and excluding any month which has fewer than seventeen days which forms the basis for payment of remuneration) is divided by the number of months in that period, as the insured's monthly remuneration; provided, however, that this does not apply to an insured who starts maternity leave as provided for in paragraph (1) of the following Article on the day following the childcare/parental leave end date.

②A standardized monthly amount of remuneration that has been revised pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph is the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for each month during the period from the month following the month that contains the day that is calculated as falling two months after the day following the childcare/parental leave end date until August of that year (or until August of the following year, if the relevant following month is any month from July to December).

③When the provisions of paragraph (1) are applied to a category II EPI insured or a category III EPI insured, the phrase "order of the competent ministry through the employer of the place of business at which the insured is employed" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with the phrase "order of the competent ministry".

①Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 21, if, on the day on which an insured's maternity leave (meaning non-engagement in work (but only if the insured is not working for reasons related to pregnancy or childbirth) for the period from 42 days (98 days in the case of a multiple pregnancy) before the day of childbirth (or before the due date, if the day of childbirth is after the due date) until 56 days following the date of childbirth; and, in the case of an insured who is a mariner (excluding a mariner who is a member of a national public service personnel mutual aid associations or a mutual aid association of local government officials; the same applies hereinafter), meaning not engaging in duties pursuant to the provisions of Article 87, paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) of the Mariners Act; the same applies hereinafter) ends (hereinafter referred to as the "maternity leave end date" in this Article) the insured whose maternity leave has ended is raising the child for whom the insured was taking that maternity leave and files a request with an implementing organization as provided for by order of the competent ministry through the employer of the place of business at which the insured is employed, the implementing organization revises the insured's standard amount of remuneration by regarding the amount arrived at when the total amount of remuneration during the three-month period beginning from the month in which the day following the maternity leave end date falls (limited to a period during which the insured continues to be employed at the place of business at which the insured was employed on the day following the maternity leave end date, and excluding any month which has fewer than seventeen days which forms the basis for payment of remuneration) is divided by the number of months in that period, as the insured's monthly remuneration; provided, however, that this does not apply to an insured who starts childcare/parental leave on the day following the maternity leave end date.

②A standardized monthly amount of remuneration that has been revised pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph is the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for each month during the period from the month following the month that contains the day that is calculated as falling two months after the day after the maternity leave end date until August of that year (or until August of the following year, if the relevant following month is any month from July to December).

③When the provisions of paragraph (1) are applied to a category II EPI insured or a category III EPI insured, the phrase "order of the competent ministry through the employer of the place of business at which the insured is employed" in that paragraph is deemed to be the phrase "order of the competent ministry".

①If it is difficult to calculate an insured's amount of monthly remuneration pursuant to the provisions of Article 21, paragraph (1), Article 22, paragraph (1), Article 23-2, paragraph (1), or paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, or if the amount calculated pursuant to the provisions of Article 21, paragraph (1), Article 22, paragraph (1), Article 23, paragraph (1), Article 23-2, paragraph (1), or paragraph (1) of the preceding Article is extremely unreasonable, the amount calculated by the implementing organization is the insured's amount of monthly remuneration, notwithstanding those provisions.

②To calculate the amount of monthly remuneration for an insured who receives remuneration from two or more places of business at the same time, the person's amount of monthly remuneration is the total sum of the amounts added together, each of which has been first calculated, for each place of business, pursuant to the provisions of Article 21, paragraph (1), Article 22, paragraph (1), Article 23, paragraph (1), Article 23-2, paragraph (1), or paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, or pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 21 through the preceding Article, decisions on and revisions to the standardized monthly amount of remuneration of an insured who is a mariner are governed by the provisions of Articles 17 through 20 and Article 23 of the Mariners Insurance Act.

Beyond as provided for in Articles 21 through 24, Cabinet Order provides for the necessary particulars in connection with the calculation of the standardized monthly remuneration.

①In months when an insured receives a bonus, the implementing organization decides the standardized amount of the bonus for that month based on the amount of the bonus that the relevant insured received that month, by rounding down to the nearest thousand. In such a case, if the standardized amount of the bonus exceeds 1,500,000 yen (or the amount specified by Cabinet Order, if the classification has been revised for the standardized monthly amount of remuneration pursuant to the provisions of Article 20, paragraph (2); the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph), the amount is 1,500,000 yen.

②The provisions of Article 24 apply mutatis mutandis to the calculation of the standardized amount of a bonus.

If the whole or a part of remuneration or bonuses are paid in anything other than money, the value thereof is established by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare according to the market value in that locality.

①If an insured or a former insured who is or was raising a child under 3 years of age files a request with the implementing organization (for a current insured, through the employer of the place of business at which the insured is employed) as specified by order of the competent ministry, the person's standardized monthly amount of remuneration for the month before the month that includes the day on which the person began to raise the child (or, if the person is not an insured in the month in question, the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for the most recent month in which the person was an insured within the one year prior to the month in question; either the month in question or this most recent month is hereinafter referred to in this Article as the "base month") is deemed to be the standardized monthly amount of remuneration that forms the basis for calculating the average standardized monthly amount of remuneration under Article 43, paragraph (1) for any month in which the person's standardized monthly amount of remuneration falls below the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for the base month (or below the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for the base month connected with a child other than the child in question, if that standardized monthly amount is deemed to be the standardized monthly amount of remuneration that forms the basis for the calculation mentioned above pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph; any standardized monthly amount deemed to be the standardized monthly amount of remuneration that forms the basis for the calculation mentioned above is referred to as the "previous standardized monthly amount of remuneration" in this paragraph), among the months during the period of time from the month that includes the day on which the person started to raise that child (or the day on which any fact provided for by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has arisen) until the month before the month that includes the day following the date of an event that falls under one of the following items (if any of the months in which the standardized monthly amount of remuneration falls below the previous standardized monthly amount of remuneration are months preceding the month that includes the day on which the relevant request was filed, these are limited to months that fall within the two-year period before the month including the day on which the relevant request was filed).

②Cabinet Order provides for revisions to the amount of pension insurance benefits based on application of the provisions of the preceding paragraph and provides for any other necessary particulars in connection with the application of the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

③To apply paragraph (1) to a person who falls under the provisions of paragraph (1), item (6) (other than if, pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph, the standardized monthly amount of remuneration in the base month connected with a child other than the relevant child is deemed to be the standardized monthly amount of remuneration), the phrase "or below the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for the base month connected with a child other than the child in question, if that standardized monthly amount is deemed to be the standardized monthly amount of remuneration that forms the basis for the calculation mentioned above pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph; any standardized monthly amount deemed to be the standardized monthly amount of remuneration that forms the basis for the calculation mentioned above is referred to as the "previous standardized monthly amount of remuneration" in this paragraph" in that paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "or below the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for the month that would be the deemed base month if the standardized monthly amount of remuneration in the base month connected with a child other than the child in question would be deemed, pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, to be the standardized monthly amount of remuneration for the calculation mentioned above in the event that the provisions of item (6) were not applied; any standardized monthly amount that is deemed, or would be deemed, to be the standardized monthly amount of remuneration that forms the basis for the calculation mentioned above is referred to as the "previous standardized monthly amount of remuneration" in this paragraph".

④When the provisions of paragraph (1) are applied to a person who is or was a category II EPI insured or a person who is or was a category III EPI insured, the phrase "a request with the implementing organization (for an insured, through the employer of the place of business at which the insured is employed)" in that paragraph is deemed to be the phrase "a request with the implementing organization".

As prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, an employer with an applicable place of business or an employer who has given consent under Article 10, paragraph (2) (hereinafter simply referred to as the "employer", except in Article 100, paragraphs (1) and (4), Article 102, paragraph (2), and Article 103) must file notifications with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare regarding the particulars of employees' acquisition and forfeiture of status as insureds (including former insureds ages 70 years and older who satisfy the requirements prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as persons employed at that applicable place of business; hereinafter such a person is referred to as an "employed person age 70 or over") (for an employed person age 70 or over, acquisition refers to the date on which the requirements prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare came to be applicable, and forfeiture refers to the date on which the requirements ceased to be applicable), as well as their amounts of monthly remuneration and the amounts of their bonuses.

The implementing organization must prepare a register for insureds, and must record each insured's full name, dates of acquisition and forfeiture of the status as an insured, standardized remuneration (meaning the standardized monthly amount of remuneration and the standardized amounts of bonuses; the same applies hereinafter), basic pension number (meaning the national pension number provided for in Article 14 of the National Pension Act), and other particulars prescribed by order of the competent ministry.

①If a person who is or was a category I EPI insured considers a specific record regarding that person that has been recorded in the register referred to in the preceding Article (hereinafter referred to as the "EPI register") (a "specific EPI register record" means the substance of the dates of acquisition and forfeiture of status as a category I EPI insured, standardized remuneration, or any other particular specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph) to be non-factual, or thinks that a specific EPI register record for that person has not been recorded in the EPI register, the person may request the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to correct the EPI register, pursuant to the provisions of Order of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③The provisions of paragraph (1) apply mutatis mutandis to a person who has a period that is deemed to be an insured period pursuant to the provisions of Article 78-6, paragraph (3) or Article 78-14, paragraph (4) (but only a period constituting a category I EPI insured period) (the person referred to here excludes a person who is or was a category I EPI insured).

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must formulate a policy on correcting the EPI register as per requests under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article (including as applied mutatis mutandis in paragraph (2) and paragraph (3) of that Article) (that request is referred to as a "correction request" in the following Article).

②Before seeking to formulate or modify the policy referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must first consult with the Social Security Council.

①On finding that there are grounds for a correction request, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must reach the decision to make the correction to the EPI register to which the correction request pertains.

②If not reaching the decision under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must reach the decision not to make the correction to the EPI register to which the correction request pertains.

③Before seeking to reach a decision under the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must first consult with the Social Security Council.

①If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare has given the approval under the provisions of Article 8, paragraph (1), Article 10, paragraph (1), or Article 11; made a confirmation under the provisions of Article 18, paragraph (1); or decided or revised standardized remuneration (but not a revision or decision on standardized remuneration under the provisions of Article 78-6, paragraphs (1) and (2), and Article 78-14, paragraphs (2) and (3)), the Minister must notify the employer of this.

②Having been notified as referred to in the preceding paragraph, an employer must promptly notify the insureds or former insureds.

③If an insured has forfeited status as an insured but it is not possible to notify the person pursuant to the preceding paragraph because the person's whereabouts are unknown, the employer must file a notification of this with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

④Having received a notification as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must give public notice of the particulars of which the minister notified the employer pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) regarding the person whose whereabouts are unknown.

⑤If it is not possible to notify an employer pursuant to paragraph (1) because the place of business has been closed or due to other compelling reasons, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must give public notice of the particulars of which the employer is to be notified, in lieu of notifying the employer as under that paragraph.

①If a notification has been submitted pursuant to the provisions of Article 27, but the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that a thing to which the notification pertains is not a fact, the Minister must notify the employer that submitted the notification of this.

②The provisions of paragraphs (2) through (5) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the notice referred to in the preceding paragraph.

①An insured or former insured may, at any time, request a confirmation as under the provisions of Article 18, paragraph (1).

②If a request under the provisions of the preceding paragraph has been made but the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that a thing to which the request pertains is not a fact, the Minister must dismiss that request.

In order to promote the people's understanding of the employees' pension insurance system and enhance their trust in it, the implementing organization, as prescribed by order of the competent ministry, is to notify insureds of the necessary information regarding the insurance premiums they have actually paid and their future benefits in an easy-to-understand manner.

The provisions of this Section (excluding Article 28 and the preceding Article) do not apply to a person who is or was a category II EPI insured, a person who is or was a category III EPI insured, or a person who is or was a category IV EPI insured, and any employer of these persons.