Japan Unemployment Insurance Calculator (Kihon Teate / Basic Allowance Simulator)

Enter your pre-separation wages, age, reason for leaving (voluntary or company-driven), and employment insurance enrollment period to estimate the daily basic allowance, prescribed benefit days, and total unemployment benefit ("kihon teate") you could receive in Japan.

What is the Japan unemployment insurance (basic allowance) calculation?

The benefit commonly referred to as "unemployment insurance" in Japan is officially the "basic allowance" (kihon teate) paid under the employment insurance system. It is calculated by first working out your "daily wage" from your wages over the 6 months before you left your job, then multiplying it by a benefit rate set by age bracket (ranging from 80% down to 45%, with higher earners receiving a lower rate) to get your "basic daily allowance." That daily allowance is then multiplied by the "prescribed benefit days," which depend on your reason for leaving, your age, and your employment insurance enrollment period, to estimate your total benefit.

The basic daily allowance has an upper and lower limit for each age bracket, so no matter how high your wages were, the amount is never unlimited. The prescribed benefit days are also more generous for people who left their job involuntarily due to bankruptcy, dismissal, and similar circumstances ("company-driven") than for those who resigned voluntarily. This tool brings these combined calculations together in a single simulation.

How to calculate your unemployment benefit

Enter your age when you left your job Your age bracket changes both the cap on the basic daily allowance and the table used for prescribed benefit days.
Select your reason for leaving Choose whether you resigned voluntarily or left due to a company-driven reason such as bankruptcy or dismissal.
Enter your total wages over the 6 months before leaving Enter the total of your regular monthly salary, overtime pay, and allowances, excluding bonuses.
Enter your employment insurance enrollment period Enter your cumulative enrollment period in months.

Tips for getting more out of it

The daily wage is calculated as "total wages over the 6 months before leaving ÷ 180." Bonuses are excluded, so enter roughly 6 times your monthly gross pay before deductions (excluding bonuses).
Whether you qualify as a "specified beneficiary" (company-driven) is determined by the separation reason code recorded on your certificate of separation ("rishokuhyo"). Even if your resignation was initially processed as voluntary, you may be able to have it reclassified as company-driven through an objection if the real cause was bankruptcy or dismissal.
For voluntary resignations from October 2020 onward, the benefit restriction period is normally 2 months, but it can extend to 3 months if this is your third or later voluntary resignation within a 5-year period.
The basic allowance is tax-free, but it is generally not counted as "annual income" when determining dependent status for tax purposes — check separately, together with any other income, whether you can still be claimed as a dependent by a family member.

Ways to use this unemployment benefit calculator

Plan your living expenses before leaving your job

Get a sense of how much of your living costs during a job search could be covered by unemployment benefits, which is useful for building a savings plan.

Compare voluntary vs. company-driven separations

Compare how much the prescribed benefit days change depending on your reason for leaving, and use this as motivation to double-check how the reason is recorded on your certificate of separation.

Consider the timing of a job change

Because prescribed benefit days change once your enrollment period crosses certain milestones (1, 5, 10, or 20 years), this can be a useful factor when deciding when to leave your job.

Compare against other benefits

Useful as a reference when comparing this benefit amount against other employment insurance or health insurance benefits, such as sickness and injury allowance or childcare leave benefits.

Unemployment benefit glossary

Basic allowance (Kihon Teate): The core benefit of Japan's employment insurance unemployment program, commonly known as "unemployment insurance" or "unemployment benefit."
Daily wage (Chingin Nikkugaku): A rough measure of your daily wage, calculated by dividing your total wages (excluding bonuses) over the 6 months before you left your job by 180.
Basic daily allowance (Kihon Teate Nikkugaku): The amount you receive per day, calculated by multiplying your daily wage by a benefit rate that depends on your age bracket.
Prescribed benefit days (Shotei Kyufu Nissu): The maximum number of days you can receive the basic allowance. This ranges from 90 to 330 days depending on your reason for leaving, your age when you left, and your employment insurance enrollment period.
Specified beneficiary (Tokutei Jukyu Shikakusha): Someone who was forced to leave their job for reasons attributable to their employer, such as bankruptcy or dismissal. This status comes with more generous prescribed benefit days than an ordinary voluntary resignation.
Waiting period (Taiki Kikan): A 7-day period counted from the day you register as a job seeker at Hello Work, during which your unemployed status is confirmed. The basic allowance is not paid during this period.
Benefit restriction period (Kyufu Seigen Kikan): An additional period after the waiting period during which no payment is made, applied in cases of voluntary resignation. For separations from October 2020 onward, this is normally 1 to 2 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. All of these are common names for the same benefit, officially called the "basic allowance" (kihon teate) under Japan's employment insurance system.

The prescribed benefit days and the time before payments start are different. Company-driven separations (such as bankruptcy or dismissal, classified as "specified beneficiaries") come with more generous prescribed benefit days, and payments can begin soon after the 7-day waiting period. Voluntary resignations have shorter prescribed benefit days and, in addition to the waiting period, a benefit restriction period of 1 to 3 months.

Yes. A maximum amount is set for each age bracket (under 30, 30–44, 45–59, and 60–64), and no matter how high your daily wage is, the payment will never exceed that cap.

If you leave your job at age 65 or older, a different scheme called the "Benefit for Elderly Job Seekers" applies instead of the basic allowance, and it is paid as a lump sum rather than a daily rate. Because the calculation method is different, this tool does not cover that case.

There is a 7-day waiting period starting from the day you register as a job seeker at Hello Work (Japan's public employment security office). After that, if you resigned voluntarily, there is a further benefit restriction period of 1 to 3 months before payment begins. If your separation was company-driven, there is no restriction period, and you become eligible for payment starting the day after the waiting period ends.

Side Note — Why the benefit period differs so much between voluntary and company-driven separations

While the prescribed benefit days for a voluntary resignation top out at 150 days, someone classified as a "specified beneficiary" (company-driven, such as bankruptcy or dismissal) can receive benefits for up to 330 days, depending on age and enrollment period. This gap exists because Japan's employment insurance system reflects how much responsibility the individual bore for the circumstances that led to their separation in how generous the benefit is. The idea is that when someone loses their job through no fault of their own — as with a bankruptcy or dismissal — and without enough time to prepare for finding new work, they need a longer period of income support.

There is also a reason why the formula for the basic daily allowance gradually lowers the benefit rate from 80% down to as low as 50% depending on the daily wage, rather than applying a single flat rate to everyone. For lower earners, fixed costs make up a larger share of living expenses, so a drop in income hits harder — which is why a relatively generous rate (up to 80%) applies at the low end. For higher earners, the rate is kept lower out of a sense of income redistribution. The fact that the cap drops even further, to 45%, specifically for the 60–64 age bracket reflects the assumption that people in this age range are close to receiving their public pension and have an easier time securing other sources of income.

The caps and floors for both the basic daily allowance and the daily wage are automatically revised every year on August 1, based on changes in average regular wages reported in the Monthly Labour Survey. This design is meant to keep benefit levels from becoming rigid as economic conditions and wage levels change, which is why the figures shift by a few hundred yen each year without requiring any change in the law.

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