Self sponsored visa through freelance work

Hello!

I want to move to Japan and was wondering if I could get a visa through my freelance work. I found on the internet that it is possible to self sponsor your visa. I have six freelance jobs that bring me almost $2000 a month. Do my employers have to be based in Japan to be eligible to apply for the visa?

Thanks in advance!

I believe this resident status is available only to those who have had a work visa (meaning with a full time employer in Japan) before and then somehow switch to several part-time jobs. You won't be eligible if you just come into Japan with several freelance contracts that you have outside Japan (I mean, if your employers are not in Japan, you don't have to be in Japan, thus you don't get granted a visa for Japan).

You have to be able to prove they are medium/long-term contracts guaranteeing your income (that's the basic test). Self sponsorship is difficult, but not impossible.

The simplest way to "self-soponsor" a visa seems to be to create your own company through something called "sole proprietorship" (個人事業), where you and your company are legally the same entity. It seems to be easier if you are already a resident in Japan, however.

http://www.tokyodev.com/2014/04/17/creating-company-japan/

Your work must still fall within the scope of one of the usual statuses of residence, however. SInce you don't say what kind of work you do, that's not clear.

My freelance jobs are related to photography/photo editing/writing/translation.

I was hoping I could somehow get a visa through them and pursue my dream in Japan. I want to enter the modeling world and apparently you already need a visa to do that, there is no way to get someone to sponsor your visa unless you already famous, which I'm not.

Photography and writing would be "Artist", photo editing and translation would be "Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Service". You most likely won't be able to do both.

I have a similar question so I guess I can just bump this post (or can open a new one if necessary).
I currently work as freelance web developer in italy, having a small contract for writing how-to articles and an informal agreement with a big american company as well.
I was wondering if any of these is valid to try to obtain a generic visa for japan?
Actually, my girlfriend's father could hire me, but I was then wondering how I can keep doing my job legally there, like how to be self employed and work for foreign companies in japan.
That said, I met her here on jg so thanks :D

If by "generic visa" you mean one which allows you to do any kind of work, you can only get that through marriage or by spending enough time in Japan to get permanent residency.

That said, "Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Service" covers most kinds of generic office jobs.

Do I need some kind of qualification for requesting it though? Because I am honestly self taught, even if now I've been working for 5 years in the industry with big companies

Each status has its own set of criteria. We can't say anything without knowing exactly what job you want to do.

A good test is asking yourself "why do I need to be in Japan specifically to do this job?"

If it's a job you could do anywhere, you're unlikely to get the visa.

That's not how it works at all. To take only a common example, one can teach English in every country on Earth.

Sure, but you can only teach English at a Japanese high school by physically being in Japan.

Japanese businesses want to hire native English speakers, so there is a job, and hence a visa.

Something like online work, or a job which isn't tied to a Japanese employer? Not so much.

Sorry, the last bit would be better put as

"an employer physically located in Japan"

I do understand, although it kind of stumps me. I mean in theory I should be allowed to live anywhere as long as I can provide for my own financial needs and pay taxes accordingly. But of course each country has its own laws

"I mean in theory I should be allowed to live anywhere as long as I can provide for my own financial needs and pay taxes accordingly."
I don't think so.

That is OK within EU. But you cannot just move to any country like that - not to the US, for example, and not to Japan.

Countries care about more than just taxes and jobs when considering what kind of immigrants they want to accept. They're also working to maintain their cultures and values, maintain order and safety, keep domestic jobs open to domestic workers, etc. and each of those can lead to many different types of restrictions on certain people/nationalities/ethnicities/etc