working holiday renewal

hello folks im a canadian with a working holiday visa

ive been in japan for about 5 months now. So i need to start looking into getting my visa renewed.

i heard that your visa is valid from when its approved. for example if my visa lasts till jan 15th and i apply for it on jan 1st that means i will lose 2 weeks. Is this true?

if so when is the latest i can safely apply for a renewal?

When i apply for a renewal do i need a return ticket to Canada? i want to visit other nations in asia after my working holiday is over so that would be very wasteful for me.

thanks for stopping by

??? you mean you extend your WH visa?
Isn't it applying another visa for working, which is appropriate to your job you got in Japan?

http://www.jawhm.or.jp/attention.html
http://ishijls.webnode.jp/