It looks like the Japanese government has passed a new law stating that foreigners must be enrolled in Japanese social or national health insurance in order to be able to renew their visas. So for those of you who are planning on going to Japan, you should probably go with the government health insurance plan just in case you do want to renew your visa. But also remember that you can’t enroll into the government health insurance plan until you receive your foreign registration card (a.k.a Alien Registration Card), which can take up to about 2 weeks. So to protect yourself, you should buy about 4 weeks worth of regular travel medical insurance just to be on the safe side. This information regarding the government’s changes came from
ELTnews.com