Checked on 23 September 2026 against the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s pages on the My Number health insurance card, the eligibility certificate and its official FAQ, the Digital Agency, the J-LIS My Number Card site, and the ordinance text on e-Gov.
The short answer
- The old health insurance cards no longer work. New ones stopped on 2 December 2024, all of them expired on 1 December 2025, and the grace for people who still brought an expired card ended on 31 July 2026.
- At a clinic you now show either your My Number Card (registered for insurance) or a Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate. This is the same for National Health Insurance and company insurance.
- If you have no My Number Card, or have not registered it, your insurer sends you an eligibility certificate for free, without an application. If it does not arrive, ask your city office or your company’s insurer.
- There are three ways to register: the card reader at a clinic’s reception, the Mynaportal app, or a Seven Bank ATM. At reception you confirm your identity by face or with a 4-digit PIN.
- Your My Number Card expires on the day your period of stay ends. When you extend your stay, extend the card at your city office too.
Knowing this, you will not be caught at reception with a card that no longer works and a bill for the full amount. You can also plan the month you renew your visa so the card is extended along with it.
You have a fever and walk into the local clinic. At the desk you hand over the insurance card you were given when you arrived. “Sorry, this one doesn’t work any more. Do you have your My Number Card?” Later a Japanese friend tells you it is easy: just put the card on the machine. But their card is good for ten years. Yours ends on the day your period of stay ends, and what happens after that is something your friend has never had to think about.
- What is the My Number Card health insurance, and does it apply to foreigners?
- Can I still use my old health insurance card?
- No My Number Card? You get a Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate
- How do I register my My Number Card for health insurance?
- How do I use it at the hospital? Face check or 4-digit PIN
- Forgot your PIN, or it is locked?
- When does it expire? For foreign residents, with your stay
- Does it work for both National Health Insurance and company insurance?
- How much does it cost?
- What if it does not work at reception?
- Which one are you?
- FAQ
- Summary
- Related reading
What is the My Number Card health insurance, and does it apply to foreigners?
It is simply your My Number Card, registered to work as your health insurance card. In Japanese it is called maina hokensho. No new card is sent to you. Once you register, the card you already have becomes your insurance card (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).
Foreign residents in Japanese health insurance use exactly the same system. The ministry’s material for foreign residents says eligible people include foreigners who meet the requirements, such as staying more than three months. If you are between 6 and 69, you pay 30% of the medical bill at the counter.
If you do not have one, there is a second route: the Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate (shikaku kakuninsho). It is a document your insurer sends, free and without an application, to people who do not use the My Number Card as insurance. It may be a card or paper, depending on the insurer. Some English guides call it a “qualification confirmation document”.
Can I still use my old health insurance card?
No. If you arrived a while ago, you may still have the plastic card from your insurer. It has stopped working.
- 2 December 2024 — new insurance cards stopped being issued
- 1 December 2025 — every remaining insurance card expired
- 31 July 2026 — clinics stopped accepting expired cards from people who had not noticed
Before you throw the old card away, check which one you have now: a registered My Number Card, or an eligibility certificate. If you have neither, ask your insurer whether a certificate has been issued to you.
No My Number Card? You get a Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate
You are not left without insurance. The ministry says the certificate goes, free and with no application, to anyone who:
- does not have a My Number Card
- has the card but has not registered it for insurance
- cancelled the registration
- has a card whose electronic certificate has expired
That includes people who have just arrived and have not received a card yet. The card takes one to two months from application to collection (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). If you join National Health Insurance in that time, the eligibility certificate is what arrives instead of an insurance card.
Your insurer sends it. For National Health Insurance that is your city or ward office. For company insurance it is Kyokai Kenpo or your company’s health insurance society. The insurer sets the validity, up to five years. If it has not arrived, you lost it, or you want to know the expiry, ask that insurer. How to join and what the premiums are is in the National Health Insurance guide.
If you lose your My Number Card, or it is away being renewed, you can also apply to your insurer for a certificate.
How do I register my My Number Card for health insurance?
You do it once. The ministry lists three ways.
- At a clinic or pharmacy reception — place the card on the face-recognition card reader. If it is not registered, the screen switches to registration. Follow it through. It takes no extra trip.
- With the Mynaportal app — log in with your card, go to “Certificates”, choose “Health insurance card” and tap “Register”. You need the 4-digit PIN you set when you collected the card.
- At a Seven Bank ATM — you can register with your card there.
You can check the status in Mynaportal (Digital Agency). Registration can take a little while to complete.
How to get the card, the application forms in other languages, and how its expiry works for foreign residents are in the My Number Card guide.
How do I use it at the hospital? Face check or 4-digit PIN
At reception there is a small face-recognition card reader. It takes four steps (ministry FAQ).
- Place your My Number Card on the reader
- Choose how to confirm it is you: face recognition or your 4-digit PIN. Staff can also check your face against the card photo
- Choose whether to share your past medication and check-up information with the doctor
- Reception is done. Take your card back
The ministry says the photo taken for face recognition is deleted as soon as it has been matched and is not stored.
Since 19 September 2025, clinics and pharmacies that have the equipment have been accepting smartphones as the insurance card. You need to add the My Number Card to your phone first. Not every clinic does this yet, so carry the physical card.
Finding a clinic and describing symptoms in Japanese are covered in how to see a doctor in Japan.
Forgot your PIN, or it is locked?
The 4-digit PIN locks after three wrong tries (J-LIS). A locked PIN does not stop you seeing a doctor: use face recognition, or let staff check your photo (ministry FAQ).
To unlock it, reset the PIN at the city office where you are registered. If you know your 6-to-16-character signature password, you can also reset it with your smartphone and a convenience-store kiosk.
When does it expire? For foreign residents, with your stay
This is where you differ from Japanese residents. Their card lasts until the tenth birthday after issue (for adults). Yours, by law, ends on the date your period of stay ends, as written on your residence card. Permanent Residents and Highly Skilled Professional (ii) holders follow the Japanese rule (My Number ordinance, Article 27).
Renewing your visa does not extend the card automatically. Once you have your new residence card, take it and your My Number Card to the city office and have the card’s validity extended. If Immigration is slow and the date is close, go to the city office before the expiry date anyway. The card can be extended to the end of the period you are allowed to stay while your application is pending (Article 27, paragraph 2).
And if it expires before you extend it? The J-LIS site says the card “may be usable for a certain period” as health insurance after expiry, without saying how long. Do not rely on that. Extend it before the date. If you missed it, apply to your insurer for an eligibility certificate.
There is a second clock inside the card: the electronic certificate, valid for five years. If only that certificate has lapsed, the card still works as insurance for three months after the end of the month it expired (ministry FAQ). Renew it at the city office during that time.
The renewal itself is covered in visa renewal in Japan. At the immigration counter you will also be asked to show your health insurance, so have the Mynaportal eligibility screen or your eligibility certificate ready.
Does it work for both National Health Insurance and company insurance?
Yes. The My Number Card and the eligibility certificate are the same system for National Health Insurance and for company insurance through Kyokai Kenpo or a health insurance society.
You do not register again when your insurer changes. The ministry’s FAQ says there is no need to re-register after changing jobs, leaving a job or moving house. You still have to join the new insurance as before: if you leave a company and move to National Health Insurance, you sign up at the city office. The new details take a little time to reach the system.
Whether a student part-time job puts you into company insurance is answered in student part-time work and social insurance.
How much does it cost?
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate | Free, no application |
| Your share of the bill | The same with either (30% for ages 6 to 69) |
| A month with very high medical bills | With the My Number Card, you do not pay above the monthly cap, with no advance application |
| Unlocking the PIN or renewing the e-certificate | At your city office |
Your share at the counter is the same whichever you show. The difference appears in a month with very large bills. With the My Number Card, you do not pay above the monthly cap at the counter, and you do not need to apply in advance (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). With an eligibility certificate, you apply to your insurer first to get the same effect.
What if it does not work at reception?
The reader is broken, or the card’s chip cannot be read. The ministry says you still pay your usual share, not 100%. You show one of these instead:
- your My Number Card plus the eligibility screen in Mynaportal (a downloaded PDF is fine)
- your My Number Card plus the paper “Eligibility Notification of Health Insurance”
- at a clinic you have never visited, with neither of those, a “statement of insured person eligibility” form that staff give you to fill in
The Eligibility Notification is a paper your insurer sends to people who registered the My Number Card. It is not enough on its own. It goes together with the card. Keep it in your wallet for the day the machine is down.
If you turn up with neither the card nor a certificate, you may be asked to pay the full amount. You can then claim a refund (ryoyohi) from your insurer, but it pays when it accepts that there was an emergency or another unavoidable reason (National Health Insurance Act, Article 54). A refund is not guaranteed. Take your card or certificate every time.
Which one are you?
- You only have the old insurance card — check your registration status in Mynaportal today. If you have no My Number Card, phone your insurer (city office or company) and ask whether an eligibility certificate has been issued.
- You have a My Number Card but never registered it — register at the card reader the next time you visit a clinic or pharmacy, or do it in Mynaportal today if you cannot wait.
- Your visa renewal is coming up — confirm your card expires on the same day as your period of stay. Put “extend My Number Card at city office” in your calendar for the week your new residence card arrives.
- You do not know your PIN — use face recognition at the clinic, and reset the PIN at your city office this week.
FAQ
Q. Can foreigners use the My Number Card as health insurance?
Yes. If you are in Japanese health insurance and have a My Number Card, you register and use it the same way Japanese residents do. It works for National Health Insurance and company insurance alike.
Q. Can I still use my old health insurance card in Japan?
No. Every insurance card expired on 1 December 2025, and clinics stopped accepting expired cards on 31 July 2026. Show your registered My Number Card or a Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate.
Q. Do I pay 100% if I do not have a My Number Card?
No. Your insurer sends a Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate, free and without an application. With it you pay your usual share.
Q. Where can I register my My Number Card for health insurance?
At the face-recognition card reader in a clinic or pharmacy, in the Mynaportal app, or at a Seven Bank ATM. You do not need to register again after changing jobs or moving.
Q. When does a foreign resident’s My Number Card expire?
On the date your period of stay ends, as shown on your residence card (Permanent Residents and a few others follow the ten-year rule). After renewing your visa, have the card’s validity extended at your city office.
Q. Can I use it if I forgot my PIN?
Yes. At the clinic you can confirm your identity with face recognition or a staff check of your photo. Reset the PIN at the city office where you are registered.
Summary
The era of the old insurance card is over. At a clinic you show either your registered My Number Card or the eligibility certificate sent to people without one. It is the same for National Health Insurance and company insurance, the certificate is free, and your share of the bill does not change.
For foreign residents there is one extra rule. Your card ends with your period of stay, so extend it at the city office every time you renew. Do that, and reception will not stop you. A forgotten PIN still leaves you face recognition, and a broken reader does not mean paying 100%.
Official sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, My Number Card as health insurance (Japanese) / MHLW, eligibility certificate (Japanese) / MHLW FAQ (Japanese) / MHLW materials for foreign residents in 15 languages / Digital Agency (Japanese) / J-LIS My Number Card site / e-Gov, My Number ordinance Article 27 (Japanese). Checked on 23 September 2026. How and when the certificate is sent differs by insurer, so check with yours.
Related reading
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WHO WROTE THIS
mori
Japanese. I read the ministries’ own notices, orders and Q&As in the original, and I start from what my Nepalese and Sri Lankan friends in Japan actually ran into. I do not write about what I have not checked or been told.
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