I have already been deemed a resident for tax purposes in Canada.

We have too many assets in Canada including bank accounts, property, stocks/bonds, RRSPs, credit cards etc. I file in Canada every year but I am NOT a resident for medical purposes.

Sounds good.....what does that mean when you start 'living" in Japan....and if you are not here for very long then why not come in and out on a tourist visa?

I think it's actually the "183 days" rule.

If I understand correctly, I think the OP wants to get Japanese citizenship - so this is a "stepping stone" towards that.

I understood that Jib, does the Japanese government allow dual citizenship/nationality(Canada is fine with this, many nations are not)? Also as the OP is resident of Canada wouldn't the GOJ see this as a negative? Oh, and thanks for the correction on the 183 days.....I also find the OP's residency conflicts with how mine was done , unless the rules have changed that much!

No. However, there appears to be a DADT situation in reality.

Whereas most of civilization sees residents of Canada as a negative, the GOJ should not be concerned in the OP's case, since the basis for his citizenship application is Japanese ancestry. Blood runs thicker than maple syrup.

Well! It will be interesting should the OP be granted citizenship.....despite his thicker than maple syrup blood !

The latest I've heard is that it depends on the rules of your existing country of citizenship. If you're a British citizen, for instance, you have to show proof that you renounced your British citizenship before Japan will complete your naturalization application. If you're an American citizen, you simply sign a document which says that you'll give up your American citizenship as quickly as possible. The reason is that Britain allows you to get your renounced citizenship back almost immediately if you ask for it, whereas the US does not.

The other obvious point to note is that becoming Japanese would require amendments to any existing work permits in China and might also require some kind of visa for certain economic activity in Canada.

While none of this is relevant to the OP, I thought I just mention it,

In reference to the above post, given up US Citizenship is harder then it sounds. You can sign all the Japanese documents you want and give it to the Japanese Government saying you will give up your US Citizenship, but to the US Government all that doesn't mean a thing. You're still a citizen until you go through the US government process of renouncing citizenship, to my knowledge for Americans, the Japanese Government doesn't ask for any proof of that you went through that process.

This is correct--though technically, if you naturalize in Japan and then fail to de-naturalize in the US, you have committed fraud in your Japanese naturalization and could have your Japanese citizenship taken away.

My main point is that this is not the procedure for all nationalities. Britons have to de-naturalize in Britain BEFORE their Japanese naturalization is completed. I don't know what the situation is like for Canadians.

There's a lot of information and anecdotal evidence here: http://www.turning-japanese.info/

At this moment, just flying in and out on a 90 day tourist visa still works because my wife's parents are still healthy enough to just need attention every couple months however it is very clear that in the near future (we think within the next 2 years) we will have to temporary live in Japan until they pass away. This could be a few months or more than likely a few years. Dementia is usually drawn out process. We have NO intention of living in Japan forever but during the period of elder care, I do not want to have to fly in and out for the sake of a tourist visa.

I was under the impression that blood was thicker than "maple syrup" so if I establish my residency with a Nikkei visa then I can stay as long as needed if needed without having to worry about length of stay.

Be aware that if you keep flying in and out as a "temporary visitor," you will get harder and harder questions from Japanese immigration over time, as they will come to suspect that you are illegally working in the country. This happened to one friend of mine who was living with his wife in Tokyo while looking for work for nearly a year. The first couple of times he got minimal questioning, but on his third entry he was taken aside and interrogated for a while.

As long as you aren't making money in Japan, you should ultimately have no problems other than occasional delays at the airport.

Exactly, I was well aware of this possibility thus my application to get a Nikkei visa then there should be no problem however keeping the status looks more and more complicated.

Just curious why your friend didn't apply for spouse status or a dependent status (if his wife was not Japanese but living in Tokyo). The dependent status would of let him stay in Japan without the expensive need to leave and return to Japan while he searched for a full time job. He could of also worked some part-time gigs on the dependent status as well (with an additional endorsement from Immigration).

Thought of that as well.

The spousal means I cannot earn income for about a year in Japan. I would then still be reliant on my job outside of Japan thus won't be around to help my inlaws.

An Nikkei visa would allow me to earn income immediately if / when we decide to move back. We can restart our new life in Japan sooner with some preparation before hand.

That is why we are applying for everything before and being as prepared as well as can be.

Actually I was curious in response to joejone's friend's situation about entering Japan multiple times as a temporary visitor.

As a side note if/once you get your Long Term Resident status approved, the first thing you should do when you enter Japan on it is get a multiple re-entry permit (6,000 yen). I know some folks on other forums who left Japan without getting the re-entry permit thus invalidating their status when they left the country.