Long-Term stay in Japan

Hey everyone. I've been searching for information trying to find an answer to my question but can't find squat. Here's my question: In the future...I would like to move to Japan. I visited recently for the first time and was captivated. I've also got a couple of friends out there. Basically, I wanted to know if I can live there without having a job. A work visa isn't required to live in Japan is it?

There has been lots of posts like this and doing a search can find you some information as you different ways you can stay in Japan. Probably one of the easist way is to get married to a Japanese national, and you can just live off of this person and not work. But who knows, it's may be like selling your soul. Most other common options require you to work or be as a student, and are usually more temporary.

Keiichi

If you have the money and means not to work, then you can live there for three months, travel abroad for a day or two, go back to Japan for another three months and so on. Lucky you, you obviously have a nice healthy bank account.
Thats a little harsh to live off of a Japanese national though, just so that you can stay for a long time.
I know people who have married for pure convenience to themselves, and they find it rather miserable. More so the fact that Asian cultures tend to view marriage in a different way to westerners. Divorce is not a very seen to do thing, it can be more harmful than the actual marriage.

Kara_Nari said:

I know people who have married for pure convenience to themselves, and they find it rather miserable. More so the fact that Asian cultures tend to view marriage in a different way to westerners. Divorce is not a very seen to do thing, it can be more harmful than the actual marriage.

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Plus marriage to a Japanese national does not guarantee a visa. Your spouse has to act as your sponsor, so if you divorce before you secure a permanent residents' visa then you'll be forced to leave the country once your temporary visa runs out.

Standard joke among the long-term, married gaijin here is that the only real benefit of the permanent visa is that it finally allows us to divorce our spouses and stay in the country. We can't get a permanent re-entry visa so a trip to the immigration office is still necessary every three years. And house loan applications, though easier with permanent status, are still subject to a lot of apparently arbitrary rules and regulations. I wouldn't fancy trying to apply for any loan without my wife in tow, even if I do earn about five times what she makes.

Ishiguro San said:

In the future...I would like to move to Japan. I visited recently for the first time and was captivated. I've also got a couple of friends out there. Basically, I wanted to know if I can live there without having a job. A work visa isn't required to live in Japan is it?

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Do you mean move permanently? What do you plan to do if you don't work? Have you really thought this out?