Local governments in Japan implement social assistance programs, called Seikatsu Hogo or Public Assistance (PA). The scope of PA programs is rather large since the PA is the only tax-financed national program that covers those excluded from contributory social insurance programs. Local PA programs are therefore funded through layers of central grants. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, I delineate the system of PA programs along with the detailed description of the central system of fiscal transfers that fiscally helps localities implement their PA programs. Second, I construct an index that measures how central grants fall short of covering actual PA spending, and how such an index varies across local governments.