Questions & Answers Concerning Benefits Provided
for Atomic Bomb Survivors Overseas
Health Service Bureau,
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
According to a decision of the Osaka High Court on December 5, 2002, atomic bomb survivors who are provided with an atomic bomb survivor's certificate (hereafter referred to as the "certificate") and are certified to receive allowances in Japan will able to continue to receive allowances after they leave Japan. In addition, atomic bomb survivors who were receiving allowances but have had them stopped because they had left Japan will be able to receive the remaining unpaid allowances for which they are eligible in accordance with the Local Autonomy Law, which stipulates the five-year statute of limitation on the term for receiving the allowance. The Questions & Answers below describes various matters for those persons to whom this is applicable.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q1 | Who will provide the allowances to atomic bomb survivors overseas? |
The prefectural authorities in Japan, Hiroshima City, or Nagasaki City, which provided the allowances while the atomic bomb survivors lived in Japan, will continue to provide the allowances. The same procedure applies to allowances unpaid for the past 5 years.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q2 | Will allowances other than the health management allowance be paid? |
Yes. The special medical care allowance, special allowance, atomic bomb microcephaly allowance and health allowance will be paid in addition to the health management allowance.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q3 | What does it mean in concrete terms that the allowance for the past 5 years can be received? For example, can a person who visited Japan eleven years ago and was certified to receive the health management allowance (the benefit period is 5 years) receive the unpaid allowance for 5 years? |
Persons who are now qualified to receive the allowances and who had them stopped because they left Japan can receive the unpaid allowances within the benefit period for the time for which it was not prohibited by the limitation (5 years) stipulated by the Local Autonomy Law.
In concrete terms, unpaid allowances for the time after December 1997 (5 years before December 2002) will be provided.
Therefore, a person who visited Japan eleven years ago and was qualified to receive the health management allowance (the benefit period is 5 years) cannot receive unpaid allowances since the allowance should have originally paid before December 1997.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q4 | How should a person who is eligible to receive unpaid allowances make contact with the disbursing agency? And what are the procedures to be followed? |
Persons who are eligible to receive unpaid allowances should contact the division in charge (see Appendix) within the prefectural authorities, Hiroshima City, or Nagasaki City from which they are qualified to receive the allowances.
It is not necessary to apply for the allowances again since the prefectural authorities, Hiroshima City, or Nagasaki City has already qualified the persons concerned to receive the appropriate allowances. However, it is necessary for the persons concerned to submit to the prefectural authorities, Hiroshima City, or Nagasaki City from which they were qualified to receive the allowances their identification documents (documents verifying the name and date of birth, including identification papers, certificates of residence or resident cards), copies of the certificate and the allowance certificate, and documents that confirm their current address, together with the bank or financial institution account numbers for payment of the appropriate allowances.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q5 | I visited Japan several times over the past 5 years and received allowances from different prefectures. Which prefecture should I contact in order receive unpaid allowance? |
Please contact all of the prefectural authorities, Hiroshima City, or Nagasaki City that provided the allowances to you. In case of duplication of the unpaid period, the prefectural authorities, Hiroshima City, or Nagasaki City from which you were last qualified to receive any allowance will provide unpaid allowances to you.
The following is an example of a person who is eligible to receive an unpaid allowance:
- Visited Japan in January 1998. Qualified to receive the health management allowance until January 2003 from Prefecture A. Left Japan in March in 1998.
- Visited Japan again in January 2000. Qualified to receive the health management allowance until January 2005 from City B. Left Japan in March 2000.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q6 | The person who acquired the certificate has already died. How can unpaid allowances be claimed for this person? |
Unpaid allowances for the period up to one month before the recipient died will be paid to the heir. The heir needs to provide documents that confirm the death of the person concerned and the relationship of succession between the heir and the deceased in order to receive any unpaid allowance.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q7 | How can I make a new application to receive the allowances? Can I apply from abroad? |
When a person who has acquired the certificate makes a new application to receive the allowances, it is necessary to visit Japan and apply for them to the chief of the prefectural authorities (or the mayor in the case of Hiroshima City or Nagasaki City) where they will be living while in Japan. This means the person concerned cannot make an application from abroad. If it is necessary to obtain a medical certificate for the application, it must be one issued by a Japanese medical institution.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q8 | What happens in the case of an eligible person who visits Japan, applies to receive the allowances and then leaves Japan before the governmental and ministerial orders are revised? |
Basically, as in the past, the person concerned can receive allowances from the month after the one in which the application was made until the month in which the person concerned left Japan. Moreover, a person who applied for the allowances and left Japan before being certified to receive them can be certified even after leaving Japan as long as the applicable conditions were fulfilled. Examples are given below.
| (1) | Visited Japan in January and left Japan in January The person concerned can begin to receive the allowance for February from March. The payment of the allowance for February may be delayed. |
| (2) | Visited Japan in January and left Japan in February The person concerned can begin to receive the allowance for February from March. According to the revised governmental and ministerial orders, the person concerned can receive the allowance every month from March. |
| (3) | Visited Japan in February and left Japan in February The person concerned can receive the allowance every month from March. |
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q9 | Does the Support Project for Visitors to Japan which started from the current fiscal year cover a visit to Japan in order to make an application for the allowances? |
No. The aim of the Support Project for Visitors to Japan is to assist with medical treatment in Japan and the issuance of the certificate. Visits to Japan in order to make an application for the allowances are not covered by the project.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q10 | If a person makes a new application and then dies before being certified to receive the allowances, can they be paid? |
Yes. As is the case within Japan, eligibility of the heir of the person concerned to receive the allowances applies from the month after the one in which the application was made through to the month in which the person died. The heir must provide documents that confirm the death and the relationship of succession between the heir and the deceased in order to receive any unpaid allowances.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q11 | What happens in the case of a person who visited Japan and obtained the certificate, but did not apply to receive the allowances? |
A person who did not apply for the allowances and was not qualified to receive them cannot legally receive allowances for the past since the right to receive the allowances does not arise.
If the person concerned visits Japan, and makes a new application for the allowances and is qualified to receive them in the future, it will be possible to begin receiving any allowances from the month after the one in which the application is made.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q12 | I have a certificate that I obtained when I visited Japan. Is the certificate still valid even if no application for renewal has been made? Under the renewal system of the certificate in past years, the expiry date was written on the certificate. What should be done if the certificate is expired? |
For any person now in possession of an expired certificate, it is valid even if no application for renewal was made. If the person concerned has several certificates that were issued at different times, the one that was issued most recently is the valid one.
The renewal system for the certificate was abolished in 1999. Therefore, expired certificates are still valid. This means that if there are unpaid allowances for a person who has an expired certificate (e.g. in the case of a person who visited Japan in October 1997 and obtained a certificate and authorization to receive the allowances and left Japan in January 1998 and has not been back to Japan since then), the person concerned can receive unpaid allowances just by providing identification. The person concerned does not need to visit Japan again to obtain a new certificate.
Furthermore, a person who has an expired certificate can be issued with a new certificate on his or her visit to Japan to provide notification of a change of place of residence in Japan.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
| Q13 | What should a person do if he or she has lost the certificate which he or she acquired in Japan? |
The person concerned can apply for reissuance of the certificate from overseas. However, if identification cannot be provided, the person concerned may have to apply for issuance of the certificate again.
| Reference: | General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 |
Appendix
A contact adress of the prefectural authorities,Hiroshima city and Nagasaki City
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| Reference:General Affairs Division, Health Service Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Fax 03-3502-3090 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||