In general I think the system is rather good. If you have a job lined up getting into the country is pretty smooth and renewals are mostly straightforward. Pr

In general I think the system is rather good. If you have a job lined up getting into the country is pretty smooth and renewals are mostly straightforward. Probably the most common source of problems I see is the rule that you must have a longer than 1-year residence status to apply for permanent residence. The max I've seen is 11 one year renewals in a row. It really does seem random. One situation featured a couple were both employed by the same company doing the same job, came to Japan together (same entry date), were living together (same home address) and yet got different lengths of residency. I think it's clear that an opaque system is a feature not a bug as far as the immigration office is concerned, but that does little to put the minds of people stuck in the system at ease.