This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
The 入管法 (Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act) contains no clear provision requiring a holder of a work visa to stay in Japan for at least a set number of days a year. The standard of "at least 180 days a year" that you see on the internet has no basis in law. What is judged is not the number of days you stay, but "the reality of your activities", and if, without a justifiable reason, you go for 3 months or more without carrying on the activities that fall under your status of residence, you become subject to revocation.
An enquiry from someone who is often away on overseas business trips or short visits home, and is anxious that they will lose their status of residence because they have not spent enough days in Japan.
Not the formal number of days you stay, but "the reality of your activities": whether you are continuing to carry out the activities set for your status of residence inside Japan.
The most important factor the 出入国在留管理庁 (Immigration Services Agency of Japan) judges when you keep a work visa is not "the formal number of days you stay", but the reality of your activities: whether the foreign national is "continuing to carry out the activities set for the status of residence inside Japan".
The 入管法 provides that where, without a justifiable reason, you have been away from Japan and have not been carrying on your activities for 3 months or more, the status of residence may be revoked.
Even short of revocation, you may be asked whether the base of your activities is really in Japan, and your next extension screening may become stricter.
Even if your status of residence is not revoked, in cases where a long stay abroad continues, where the relationship of direction and instruction is such that it can be equated with belonging to an overseas branch, and where payment of your salary has largely switched over to being paid by a foreign corporation, the screening of your next 在留期間更新許可申請 (Application for Extension of Period of Stay) may become stricter.
Where you are often away on long business trips, the 出入国在留管理庁 may ask whether "the base of your activities is really in Japan", or ask you to submit further material.
If you are frequently out of Japan for at least 100 days a year, you are judged not to have the base of your life in Japan, and permanent residence screening becomes very unfavourable.
Care is especially needed if you are thinking of an application for permanent residence in future. When it comes to meeting the residence requirement for permanent residence (such as 10 years of continuous residence), frequently being out of Japan for at least 100 days a year (about 3 months or more) leads to a judgment that "the base of your life is not in Japan", and permanent residence screening becomes very unfavourable.
You must obtain a 再入国許可. If you leave for 1 year or more without one, your status of residence lapses automatically.
Keeping a work visa is judged by the reality and the continuity of your activities, not by a formal number of days. If you are often away on long business trips or short visits home, it is essential to have objective evidence and an explanation ready, so that you are not mistakenly thought to have "no reality of activities". If you have any concerns, please consult a specialist such as a gyoseishoshi.
The 入管法 has no provision requiring you to stay for at least a set number of days a year. What is judged is not the number of days you stay, but the reality of your activities: whether you are continuing to carry out the activities set for your status of residence inside Japan.
If the activities abroad are carried out on the instructions of the company you belong to in Japan, and a continuing employment relationship with the Japanese company is maintained, you are treated as having a reality of activities. The 3 months do not mean a period spent abroad; they mean a period during which you have not been carrying on the activities that fall under your status of residence.
Frequently being out of Japan for at least 100 days a year (about 3 months or more) leads to a judgment that the base of your life is not in Japan, and permanent residence screening becomes very unfavourable.
Be sure to obtain a 再入国許可 at the 地方出入国在留管理局. If you are away from Japan for 1 year or more without one, your status of residence lapses automatically.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.