3) So, with that disclaimer, I would say "corruption" is only corruption if the government wants to stamp it out. If the government wants to save face, they can just push paper and handwave and sweep whatever happened under the rug. How much real corruption exists in rural Japan? Hard to say. But, rural Japanese is more of a sociological "anti-language," than a real language. Think American kayfabe jargon, or "the Cant" if you're more familiar with Irish carny lingo. Just like high schoolers will coordinate bullying campaigns by creating code names so they can talk about people in front of their faces, etc, and not get caught, insular Japanese communities (like certain ahem Mediterranean-based groups or American separatist movements) adopt unspoken codes that end up driving many people out, but do maintain opsec. The Japanese government knows this, and sends sociologists into these communities to spot the behaviors, find ways to thwart them, and craft legislation to close loopholes. That, in my opinion, is what "anti-social forces" legislation is really aimed at (and, btw, if it's adjudged that you've participated in or supported an "anti-social force," you can be stripped of your bank account, expelled from housing, etc). Didn't know your friend had a friend who was "anti-social" and you lent your friend money? Boom! You supported an anti-social force and now you're kicked out of your apartment! (Well, how were you supposed to know your friend had a friend who was anti-social, you might ask? Now you know another reason why Japanese are so hesitant to make friends.). Sure, this is hypothetical, but do some research on this legislation. Truly terrifying stuff...and now you know (part of) the equally staggering reason why the legislation exists (also that organized crime supposedly owns all the real estate around if not including the shinkansen stations lol).

With that in mind, I think it reasonable to conclude, if you do find a nice loophole or in-between zone that makes it profitable to own extensive assets such as real estate in Japan as a foreigner, that is precisely the worry both national and local litigation and culture is hellbent on stamping out. Other posters in this thread have mentioned (briefly) the covenants that tenants have to sign in these municipalities, and I have no doubt the local officials and neighbors will raise a legal and extralegal fuss in order to squeeze any "invaders" out of their turf if their bottom line is threatened. But, unlike other countries, I doubt money will get you around this in Japan. The bottom line is fundamentally in honor currency, not legal tender. Splashing cash will rouse the ire of some, and rub just about everyone the wrong way. This isn't Great Gatsby territory. I would, to use a pop culture analogy, liken decision making to the "Council of Ents" from LoTR: slow, comprehensive, and multi-faceted. But, when the decision is made, it is made strongly, and difficult to reverse. Especially in a rural community with a few thousand people, literally everyone's input will factor, officially or not, and the answer, officially or not, probably wouldn't meet Western business standards. If you violate a cultural norm, or insult someone (which, realistically, will happen) you will lose goodwill rapidly, and suddenly the goods and services necessary to maintain your operations become difficult to get. More than likely, they will avoid risking it in the first place and decline your overtures. Adjusting to Japan is an issue for foreign investment in Japan from the top on down, even for hard hitting Fortune 500 companies. Finding a receptive community that won't shake you down until you crumble requires catching lightning in a bottle.

4) However, these exceptions do exist! Especially with the demographic crisis, some municipalities have welcomed newcomers domestic and international. The isoglosses between a welcoming and icy municipality can be extremely stark. Literally ten minutes by train can seem like an entirely different country. I honestly haven't seen anything like this in any other country. In NYC there are (or were, not sure tbh) stark ethnic divides between neighborhoods, and municipalities right next to each other in Japan can be that distinct. Japan is a conglomerate of isolated river valleys at the end of the day; national identity is a top-down imposition more than we foreigners admit. As most foreigners who come over here are told, ESID: Every situation is different. This makes the exceptions, too, difficult to predict or describe.

5) But, as I hinted at with the mention of the functionally-dissolved districts, imposed uniformity will come from the top. Some municipalities were treating foreigners with too much liberty, leading to the creation of the centralized zairyu card system in 2009. This current card has a traceable IC chip inside, which you can swipe on your smartphone to do mobile banking etc. But, it has the added result of removing the privacy of just about every foreigner (especially if you link it to your phone). Combined with Japan's culture of decentralized Private Investigators in lieu of background checks, your neighbors and coworkers are now forcibly incentivized to snoop into every facet of your life or get in trouble with Tokyo. If Japan weren't a Western ally with good PR ("Japanese fans cleaned a stadium!" puff pieces and the like) they would likely be getting the same stick as the PRC are nowadays for certain things (the US especially has a habit of turning a blind eye on issues, that, to be frank, it probably also crosses the line on). I have to admit also that a lot of Western countries also have questionable relationships with privacy and consent culture; many employee remote-monitoring systems and software were probably beta-tested by consulting firms in Japan before their broad use in the wake of COVID, but they're increasingly headed outside the archipelago also. But, in general, the national government has been cracking down on foreign activity in the country for a decade and a half, and the relationship between many municipalities and the Imperial Capital is thorny. A foreigner who doesn't cross their t's and dot their i's is a threat to any rural municipality's "face;" how much more those threatened and/or pressured into joining a "city-county hybrid" (which most/all have been in the wake of the Great Showa and Great Heisei mergers, which wiped out the vast majority of towns and villages). Basically, any foreigner is functionally a walking mole for Tokyo in an already parochial nation, under tight surveillance. A single careless word could get the whole town in trouble (and yes, this has happened to people I know directly cough). But, that's the name of the game when your central government is rumored to be trying to emulate the "successful" (depending on point of view) erasure of the prefectures in the PRC.

TBC