[timr]

You can also get another 3 months on a tourist visa by leaving and coming back (at least, most visa-free tourists can; I've had many friends do this).

I suppose it's less cost to do it this way, but it sure seems like a "digital nomad" would have no problem going somewhere else for a week (Korea, Taiwan), and coming back.

[plz-remove-card]

I know that's fine for some countries such as the Philippines (though their tourist visa can be extended so long, it's rarely necessary) but IIRC this doesn't fly in Japan, it's 90 days per year, total, and they're very strict about it.

[timr]

I don't know if it differs by country, but that's incorrect for residents of the US, and various countries in western Europe. You get 90 days per stay, with 2 stays a year.

(edit: I could be wrong about the 2 stay max. It might be higher. I'm pretty sure I entered Japan more than 2 times in a single year on a visa-free waver, but I don't know if there's some window that applies.)

[presentation]

2 stays max is not officially written anywhere but about 180 days is the rule of thumb people usually go by.

[gwill]

it is not 90 days total per year, but the officials are strict on it. if they see you were recently in japan they may suspect you of working illegally. they also can say you’ve returned too soon and reject you. not worth the risk imo, even though a i know a few people that have done it successfully so they could study in japan without a year long visa.

[plz-remove-card]

> it is not 90 days total per year, but the officials are strict on it.

That may have been what I was thinking, I recall on my first trip there, they were pretty strict and wanted to know exactly where I was staying I even had to show them on the map. For my wife's tourist visa we had to apply to a travel agency that was a liaison with the Japan embassy (The Japan embassy required it, you couldn't apply directly in her country) and the process was very tedious, we had to include a day-by-day itinerary, and all kinds of documentation. All that to say I guess when I hear that Japan is strict about something, I just take that as it's not worthwhile to try and get around it.

[timr]

Yeah, there's likely a citizenship thing at play. I imagine the treatment for a "digital nomad" from the US is going to be pretty different than someone from the Philippines or Vietnam [1], for example. Japan (like most countries) probably doesn't care so much about re-entry of rich tourists, so long as they're not working or doing anything illegal.

[1] Both are countries with lots of unskilled folks who desperately want to work in Japan.

[geekpondering]

Yeah, I got yelled at once by JP passport control for coming back after a visa run, mainly because on the entry card I put a residential address (short term stay place) and that I was staying another 90 days.

The three main things JP passport control are looking for are asylum seekers, people over and people that are illegally working under the table and not paying into the Japanese tax/retirement system.