Why Does Japan's Health Insurance Feel So Expensive? Comparing Japan and Korea's Healthcare Systems
The first time I looked closely at my Japanese payslip, I spent more time reading the deductions than the salary itself. There was income tax, resident tax, pension contributions, and health insurance. Later, long-term care insurance would also become part of the monthly deductions. My first thought was simple: "Living in Japan costs more than I expected." Since I grew up in Korea, I naturally compared the two countries. Both have national health insurance systems, yet Japan somehow felt more expensive. I wanted to understand whether that feeling matched reality or whether I simply wasn't familiar with how the Japanese system worked. After reading about both healthcare systems, I realized the answer was more nuanced than I expected. How Japan's Health Insurance System Works Japan has a universal health insurance system, which means everyone is expected to be covered through either employee health insurance or the National Health Insurance program. The system is funded...