No. of Recommendations: 3
They'll give you a house if you agree to fix it up and live there.
From what I could tell, it's not quite so simple. Immigration isn't exactly encouraged, and unless you have a Japan-based job offer (particularly for specialized skill categories) it's hard to get a long-term visa. It's somewhat easier to get a student visa, which would let you live there for quite a while but wouldn't lead to permanent residency.
It's not really something we were seriously considering, given that we wouldn't want to be that far away from our kids. But with our "vacation brain" turned on, it was very tempting - especially with the dollar so strong against the yen right now. The trip was so amazing that we just didn't want it to end!
