I am thinking of buying an akiya in Yamaguchi as a second home, I read the applicable portions of the wiki but still have a few questions:
I would stay at the home twice per year for slightly less than the 90 day US temporary visitor period, would this be allowed on such a regular basis?
I am self-employed and I would need to spend about 5 hours a week online doing business – which is entirely based in the US. Would this be an issue?
I would consider renting the house for week or longer short stays while I am in the US, this seems like it would have significant tax implications. It would be easy to find renters within my own community who would likely pay a premium. Would this be so challenging from a tax perspective that it would not be worth it?
I have a German Shepherd who is attached to my hip, he is extremely well trained but is very challenging for anyone who does not have GSD experience to care for – nor should they. I would need to bring him with me when I visited. I have researched this and it looks like it would be okay but challenging and expensive, any thoughts on this are welcome. One of my many concerns is travel from the airport to the house, which is about a four hour train ride, it sounds like a GSD on a train is likely impossible due to the crate requirements – which makes sense.
12 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
—
**Part time home in Japan for US citizen.**
I am thinking of buying an akiya in Yamaguchi as a second home, I read the applicable portions of the wiki but still have a few questions:
I would stay at the home twice per year for slightly less than the 90 day US temporary visitor period, would this be allowed on such a regular basis?
I am self-employed and I would need to spend about 5 hours a week online doing business – which is entirely based in the US. Would this be an issue?
I would consider renting the house for week or longer short stays while I am in the US, this seems like it would have significant tax implications. It would be easy to find renters within my own community who would likely pay a premium. Would this be so challenging from a tax perspective that it would not be worth it?
I have a German Shepherd who is attached to my hip, he is extremely well trained but is very challenging for anyone who does not have GSD experience to care for – nor should they. I would need to bring him with me when I visited. I have researched this and it looks like it would be okay but challenging and expensive, any thoughts on this are welcome. One of my many concerns is travel from the airport to the house, which is about a four hour train ride, it sounds like a GSD on a train is likely impossible due to the crate requirements – which makes sense.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Don’t think would work as you cannot work remotely in japan..Also akiya are notoriously in need of repairs to even be liveable..if only coming as tourist is it worth it? I’ve seen several videos, 100-300k seems to be minimum standard for renovation. Often foundation, floors, plumbing, kitchen are outdated /rotted/unstable and would need be fixed to live in properly.
I believe it is illegal to work remote in Japan. Checking emails every now and then is probably fine even though that’s still illegal, but 5 hours a day will probably send some serious red flags.
I do have a non-Japanese friend with investment properties that he rents out. From what I was told, you do have to pay for the property all in cash, then hire a property management company. He’s probably making it sound a lot easier than it is.
I have a friend who spent a few thousand getting her dog to Japan from the US one-way. This includes paperwork. I guess this isn’t an issue if you’re rich.
regarding dog, its not easy to bring pet to japan. They have to go through a lengthy quarantine process. Read more here: https://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/animal/dog/import-other.html
I would ask yourself why come to japan? If just travel forget about buying an akiya or bringing the dog, both make it a lot more harder then needs be but if you still want to know that the process is long even BEFORE can come. Some hotel/airbnb have a dog size limit as well
TLDR: No.
Bouncing back and forth on a tourist visa is not guaranteed. Repeat visits is a red flag that will eventually bring attention to you.
Telework on a tourist visa is likely illegal. There are also tax issues.
Fixing up an akiya is also not simple work. Plus, you will have tax issues.
>I would stay at the home twice per year for slightly less than the 90 day US temporary visitor period, would this be allowed on such a regular basis?
You can expect a great deal of scrutiny after you’ve done this a few times. Keep in mind that this status does not give you permission to work so immigration would be very concerned about how you are supporting yourself. Don’t forget, owning property here does not confer any rights to entry nor residence.
>I am self-employed and I would need to spend about 5 hours a week online doing business – which is entirely based in the US. Would this be an issue?
Yes. If you are earning income as a result of work you are doing in Japan then that income is domestically sourced and you owe Japan taxes on it. You would also need to be on a status that legally allows you to work.
>I would consider renting the house for week or longer short stays while I am in the US
You will need to review the minpaku laws for Japan nationally as well as at the prefecture and city level where your home would be located. I would strongly suggest hiring a property management firm to help ensure that you are not violating the laws.
>this seems like it would have significant tax implications.
>Would this be so challenging from a tax perspective that it would not be worth it?
That’s a question you’d have to answer yourself but presumably the previously mentioned property management firm would be able to advise you.
>I have a German Shepherd who is attached to my hip
Traveling is quite stressful for animals, especially larger breeds. Your dog will almost certainly need to be crated for the international flight to Japan and then at least an additional 12 hours for a mandatory quarantine upon arrival (up to 180 days if you completely screw up the paper work). You’ll definitely want to engage with a consulting firm that specializes in pet travel. If you search the sub you’ll probably find one or two mentioned. But are you really suggesting that you’d want to force your dog to endure that much stress four times a year?
Japan is rightly not going to be happy if you plan to live and work in the country tax free for half the year.
Dude you can’t do that to your dog, he/she will die if you fly them to Japan a few times a year. I’m about to bring my animal to Japan, I just moved here, the general advice is leave pets at home unless you are going for more than 2 years.
I.e at the most move them once every two years. Also the USA has rabies and so they will quarantine your dog for weeks.
Anyone know why Japan is so against remote work? Seems counter to them being such a high tech nation. I imagine it’s one of the first things to change when they begin to allow more necessary immigration in the future.
I love the media blow up of akiyas
They make it sound so easy and cheap and and and yeah
Who are you going to pay to fix up the akiya before you come? Akiya are notoriously POS that no one wants. Sometimes they’re falling apart, only have Japanese squat toilets, are out in the middle of nowhere without any neighbors or stores for miles. I think you need to do better research.
I used to rent from an older couple and they owned the place and stayed there a few times a year on a tourist visa .. it wasn’t a problem . And it sounds like many foreigners are purchasing property because of the weak yen .. so I would guess it’ll be even more common
5 hours a week on line is nothing … don’t worry about it