The Social Insurance Agency began sending pension records Friday to the country's 70 million public pension plan members informing them of the amount of benefits they can expect.
The public pension plan operator is asking members — those between the ages of 20 and 65 who pay a monthly ¥14,660 public pension fee — to check the records for accuracy.
Participation in the system is mandatory.
On Friday, pension coverage regular notices, called "nenkin teikibin," were sent out to about 764,000 people.
The agency is sending the notice in two different envelopes. Those whose pension records are highly likely to be incorrect will receive an orange envelope and are encouraged to check the data carefully. A light blue envelope indicates less chance of errors in the records, according to the agency.
The notice will be sent to pension plan members once a year.
The Social Insurance Agency, an organization under the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, sent similar pension coverage notices, called "nenkin tokubetsubin," to all pension plan members and pensioners, some 108 million, from December 2007 to last October.
The agency began sending the special notices after more than 50 million unidentified pension accounts were found in 2007.
The pension record fiasco developed into a major political issue that resulted in a setback for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito coalition in the 2007 House of Councilors election.
