Japan Support Guide
Explore public support programs in Japanese, English, Chinese and Vietnamese, with official sources and review dates. Eligibility depends on each program’s residence, insurance, employment, income, family, business and other rules—not foreign nationality alone.
Categories
Three national programs for children, childbirth and pregnancy, plus two Tokyo programs for children and childbirth.
Three national health-insurance or medical-cost programs, plus child medical-cost support in Osaka City and Nagoya City.
Five national programs covering unemployment benefit, job-seeker training, education and training benefits, older job seekers and re-employment.
The national rent benefit, housing safety-net and housing-support corporation programs, plus Osaka and Aichi prefectural housing.
The national startup-visa framework, startup and residence-status preparation support in Tokyo, Osaka and Aichi, and one Nagoya office-rent subsidy.
Programs worth checking
Japan's Child Allowance, known as Jidou Teate, is a cash benefit for people raising children from birth through the first March 31 after the child turns 18. The amount is not a flat rate — it depends on the child's age and whether they are the third or later child in the family. Children living overseas are covered only if they meet specific exception conditions, such as studying abroad.
The High-Cost Medical Expense Benefit (高額療養費制度) is a public health insurance benefit that reduces the out-of-pocket cost of insured medical treatment once your monthly payment exceeds a cap based on age and income. It applies to people enrolled in Japan's public health insurance system. This article reflects the system as revised in August 2026, with a further review scheduled for August 2027.
Japan's basic unemployment allowance (kihon teate) is an employment-insurance benefit paid to people who had a qualifying insured period before leaving their job and who are actively looking for work but have not yet found it. Simply resigning does not automatically qualify you; you must be in an actual state of unemployment as defined by the program. Exact eligibility and amounts depend on individual circumstances, so the final confirmation always happens at Hello Work.
The Housing Security Benefit (住居確保給付金) supports rent for the household's main livelihood supporter who is in financial hardship and has lost housing or is at risk of losing it. It covers people who left a job or closed a business, and people whose work opportunities fell through neither their own fault nor their own choice and whose employment situation became equivalent to job separation or business closure. Foreign residents may qualify, but they must meet the applicable household-income, financial-asset and job-search requirements.
The Foreign Entrepreneurship Promotion Project, officially 外国人起業活動促進事業（スタートアップビザ） in Japanese, is a national framework under which foreign entrepreneurs prepare a startup in an approved implementing body's target area. It is not a nationwide one-stop application. The applicant first submits the startup-preparation plan to the body responsible for the intended area. After that body's confirmation, a regional immigration bureau separately examines residence status. Plan confirmation and its certificate do not guarantee immigration permission, renewal, or business success.