[TornPrince]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I`m not 100% sure, but I believe it is 20%...
However, I don`t believe that the US considers that under the foreign tax credit, so they may choose to tax you above and beyond that.

Here is the Japanese Tax information page relating to it.

Thanks a lot for the information and that link. I would never have found that on my own since I didn't know what to search for.

I'd really like to spend some time in Japan and 20% isn't so I think I'll go ahead with it. I'll probably spend 6 months on a tourist visa while I see if I like it so tax won't be an issue for a while.

I think I'll learn Japanese to a proficient level before I consider going. I spent a year in Eastern Europe, which I thought would be fun but nobody spoke English so small things like identifying and paying the electricity bill became big problems, especially since they never used the standard Roman alphabet. I wouldn't like the same problems in Japan so I'll intensify my studying of Japanese. I've been learning at a slow pace for a while now but have only learned a little over 600 kanji and my skills with the language are rather lacking. I'll have to put more effort into it.

Anyway, thanks again for the help.