I was wondering if anyone here is a permanent resident of Japan. I was thinking about going for mine but I'm not exactly sure if I'll be exchanging temporary headaches for permanent ones.

I don't plan on spending the rest of my life here but I don't want to have to worry about work. Right now I have a company and I sponsor myself, and it's been an expensive process just to keep my visa (corporate taxes, accountants, etc.). I'd like to ditch the company and just keep doing what I've been doing as a permanent resident, plus if I do go home and want to return in 5 years time I thought it would be more convenient with the perm. It would also open me up to jobs where I can travel back and forth to and from Japan more easily, if that's what I decide to do in the future.

But....I'm not sure of the downside. I don't want to get a permanent residency, move back to the US, then find that I have to contribute to national health even while I'm gone or something like that. I'm also wondering if they require you to stay in Japan for any period of time....naturally so bums like me don't get permanent residency and go home and just keep the status in my pocket for future possibilities.

I'm also curious about pensions. I can keep filing in the US and getting an exemption on the taxes while still contributing to social security so that will be there for me when I go back. I'm wondering if I could also be a part of the Japanese pension system and get that when I'm older as well. Naturally I'd be paying into both systems, but having dual pensions from 2 different countries seems like a nice security blanket.

So....any horror stories? Any pros or cons? Any stories that begin with, "Whatever you fucking do, don't ever become a permanent resident..."