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）
Even with no job lined up in Japan, you can well apply to come here on a 定住者 visa (告示5号) if you can prove sufficient assets, such as savings. You do have to clear the livelihood requirement, and it is said to matter not only how much money you have but also how you built it up.
A third-generation descendant of Japanese emigrants living in Taiwan is thinking of coming to Japan on a 定住者 visa, with a business in mind.
You can. You do have to clear the livelihood requirement, however.
Screening under 定住者告示5号 looks hard at one question: after you land in Japan, can you live independently without public assistance? Normally this is proved with a notice of intended employment (employment contract) from a Japanese company. Where there is none, it is said that you have to prove that you can live in Japan for a long period on your own assets alone, such as savings or unearned income in your home country. At 60 years old, the greatest concern is whether your savings will run out soon after you arrive and leave you in hardship.
No clear standard is published, but in practice 15 million yen to 20 million yen or more is said to be the guide.
No clear figure is published under the 入管法 (Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act). In practice, however, where a single person with no job lined up wants to meet the livelihood requirement on assets alone, 15 million yen to 20 million yen or more (converted into Japanese yen) is given as the guide. This figure comes from assuming living costs of about 2 to 3 million yen for a single person for 1 year in Japan, adding the living costs for the several years (3 to 5 years) until the business finds its feet, and allowing separately for the cost of setting up a company and the initial investment in the trading business.
What matters is not only the amount but the quality of the money. Money borrowed for a moment and paid into an account is seen through in the checks, so you are also expected to prove where the assets came from — accumulated past salary, the profit on selling property, business profits and so on — using the movements in your bank passbook over the past several years.
Proof of continuing unearned income from your home country, and a simple business plan, are said to help.
It is suggested that you start by checking whether you can obtain the family register documents proving your blood relationship as a person of Japanese descent, such as your grandparents' closed Japanese family register.
Unlike a 経営・管理 visa, it places no limit at all on work and has no requirement as to capital or the size of the business, so it is said to make starting a business easier.
The quality of the money: it is said to be important to prove where the assets came from, using the movements in your bank passbook over the past several years.
It is said to work in your favour, because it shows a structure under which income comes in regularly while you are in Japan, rather than simply drawing down savings.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.