[Nyororin]

I do not mean to be discouraging, but in multiple posts here and in countless private messages I have received over time... It seems that there is some level of misunderstanding as to how I managed to stay in Japan.

You cannot just go and stay. It doesn't matter how many times you hop back and forth, etc. I was only able to stay in the country permanently because I married a Japanese citizen. Had I not fallen in love and married, I would have had to simply return to the US after hopping around a few times. There is really no legal way to just stay.

As there is no way to really say whether you will find a mate, and chances are someone found when you feel pressured to extend a visa will not be the best match, it is hard to say that just going would be a better choice than studying in Japan or getting a degree then working.

I am sure that somewhere in the numerous pages of this thread I clarified that I did not just stay but received a visa after getting married, but as the thread is so long I think that everyone just reads the beginning and jumps to the end.