Before I get to the question here is context and details.
I own a small online business in the US (7 total remote employees/contractors) and I generated high six figures last year in revenue.
It is a consultancy, we build influencer careers and online music artistry careers / scale preexisting ones by doing systems and process engineering + content marketing and monetization.
This year I am looking at over $1.5m USD total sales based on current trajectory. My take home is roughly 20% – 30% of our yearly sales volume.
My family and I are considering a move to Japan as we don’t like high cost of living in the USA and we also dislike the societal values in the US. The superior infrastructure, safety, food quality, ease of access to utilities, public transit, and quality of education for kids appeal to us. I am from rural Ohio. It is a shithole compared to here.
We are not deeply rooted in our local community either.
Aside from moving into a gated community or an overpriced McMansion it will be hard to find somewhere we feel safe without moving a significant . Even in the cornfields of the Midwest where I live, opioid addicts have tried to rob and kill me, break into my home, etc. I’m not making this up.
If we are going to move, we might as well go all the way and do something few people have the resources to do. I have no criminal history and neither does my wife.
We have already visited parts of Japan (Osaka/Kyoto/Nara) and really loved it.
We have two extremely young children (1 and 3 years old) so integrating will be less challenging in the near term for them if we choose to move.
I am confused by the many visa options. It appears I may need to work for a Japanese company to get anything longer than 6 months. I could find a Japanese company to take as a client (which might enable this) if I had to in order to enable a longer term stay.
I am already in weekly tutoring for the language and so is my wife.
What should I be looking at and learning about? I have enough income to solve the rest of the moving/housing issues. Visas are my primary concern.
Thank you!
by Hobbitrabbit