Salary Paid in Arrears in Japan: The First Months

Last updated: 19 October 2026 · the Health Insurance Act and the Japan Pension Service’s pages · figures for the 2026 tax year

Many Japanese employers pay a month in arrears: work up to a closing date (締め日, shimebi) is paid on a payday (支払日, shiharaibi) in the following month. Start a job on 1 April under such a cycle and April brings no salary at all; the first pay arrives in late May, already carrying April’s health insurance and pension. On a cycle that pays within the month, the first payslip comes in April instead and is the largest you will see for a while. On ¥300,000 a month, that first payslip is ¥290,680 and the later ones ¥249,610. The take-home calculator shows an ordinary month.

This is a general explanation for a new employee in Japan. Your employment contract or the work rules (就業規則) state your own closing date and payday; ask payroll if they are not clear.

Closing dates and paydays

A pay cycle is written as a closing date and a payday:

• Paid in the same month — for example, closing at the end of the month and paying on the 25th of that month (末締め当月25日払い). April’s salary comes on 25 April.
• Paid in arrears — for example, closing at the end of the month and paying on the 25th of the next month (末締め翌月25日払い). April’s salary comes on 25 May, and the month you start has no payday.
• Mid-month closing — for example, closing on the 15th and paying on the 25th (15日締め25日払い). The first pay covers only the days from your start to the 15th.

Why insurance looks different on the first payslip

Health insurance and pension are charged for each month you are insured, starting with the month you join. The law lets the employer take the previous month’s premium from each salary it pays. So:

• on a same-month cycle, the 25 April pay has no previous month to take a premium for, and April’s premium comes off the May pay;
• on an arrears cycle, the first pay is in May and takes April’s premium at once.

Employment insurance is different: it is a share of each payment, so it is taken from the first pay whichever cycle you are on.

The first three paydays, two ways

Starting on 1 April 2026 on ¥300,000 a month, in Tokyo, aged 30 and single:

The April figure is ¥300,000 less ¥1,500 of employment insurance and ¥7,820 of income tax: with no health insurance or pension taken, the income tax is read off a higher line of the monthly table. From May, ¥44,070 of insurance and ¥6,320 of income tax come off each month. Neither cycle costs more in insurance; the difference is when the money arrives. Arriving from abroad, plan for the first weeks without a salary if your employer pays in arrears.

Resident tax comes much later

Neither cycle takes resident tax at first. It is charged on the previous calendar year’s income by the city you live in on 1 January, so somebody who starts work in Japan in April 2026 starts paying it from the payslip in June 2027 — your first year’s resident tax explains the timing. The end of a job mirrors the start: your last paycheck can carry two months of premiums.

Questions people ask

Why was I not paid in my first month?

Because your employer pays a month in arrears: the work up to the closing date is paid on a payday in the following month. The first month’s salary is not lost; it arrives the month after.

Why does my first payslip have no health insurance on it?

Because the payslip takes the previous month’s premium, and on a cycle that pays in the same month there is no previous month yet. On a cycle that pays a month in arrears, the first payslip already carries the first month’s premium.

When does resident tax start?

From the June after your first 1 January in Japan — June 2027 for somebody who started in April 2026 — whatever your pay cycle, because it is charged on the previous calendar year’s income.

Sources

• e-Gov — 健康保険法 (article 167: the employer may deduct the previous month’s premium from the pay) and 厚生年金保険法 (article 84: the same for pension). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 標準報酬月額・標準賞与額とは？ (premiums for each month from the month you join, on the grade set when you join). Japanese.
• National Tax Agency — 令和8年分 源泉徴収税額表 (the monthly table read on pay after social insurance). Japanese.

See an ordinary month in the calculator