Residence in Japan with a unique scenario

I am looking for some information and where to go to begin my Canada-Japan transition. I am intermediately skilled in Japanese(my only problem areas were conversationalism, however reading and writing were near flawless) and have been interested in Japanese culture and transitioning for nearly a decade.
I am 25 years old and am looking at a career choice of either Visual Merchandising or Chemical Engineering as a second choice. I am a graduate from private school with an extensive work history.
The downside; I have a multiple year sentence on my Canadian Criminal record for uttering counterfeit money, weapons and organized crime. As terrible as that sounds, and Im not minimizing it, I need to move on. With my head on straight, i believe that it is still possible.
So, before I get any older, I need some guidance.
In your opinion, would it be more beneficial to apply for a student visa and persie my education in Japan? Or would it be prudent to complete my education here and then transition? Will I be barred from Japan?
I have been to japan in my teen years and i found that i was not only compatible with the lifestyle and culture, but I belonged amongst their civilization.

Any help or opinion is appreciated and thank you so much for taking the time to read.

I think you might be SOL.

If you have a criminal record in which you served one or more years in prison you are barred from receiving a visa or even entering Japan.

Since you've said that you served a multi-year sentence you will be denied entry to Japan.

Your only hope would be that you get your record expunged where they treat your conviction as if it never happened. I don't know if they do that in Canada for your crimes.

If you want to work in Japan, I would recommend you to study at a Japanese university.

The downside; I have a multiple year sentence on my Canadian Criminal record for uttering counterfeit money, weapons and organized crime. As terrible as that sounds

Exactly, that is the dark side of the story. According to what I heard previously, having a criminal record is not something they take lightly.

I hope someone else give a good answer.

If you have a criminal record in which you served one or more years in prison you are barred from receiving a visa or even entering Japan.

[citation needed]

Section II, Article 5 of the Immigration Control Act (�gDenial of Landing:

Any alien who falls under any one of the following items shall be denied permission for landing in Japan. . . . .

(4) A person who has been convicted of a violation of any law or regulation of Japan, or of any other country, and has been sentenced to imprisonment with or without labor for 1 year or more, or to an equivalent penalty except for those convicted of a political offense.

(5) A person who has been convicted of a violation of any law or regulation of Japan or of any other country relating to the control of narcotics, marijuana, opium, stimulants or psychotropic substances and sentenced to a penalty.

So yes, unfortunately it seems that anyone who has served more than a one year sentence for criminal activity can't even enter on a tourist visa.

Just to back up the denial of entry, there are famous cases of people being turned around at the border - and not even with jail time (just admitting guilt is enough apparently.)

Oh, right, I was looking at Article 3, which is about entry...

He can lie when visiting Japan as a tourist, they don't have access to the Canadian criminals database. However if he asks for a student visa or some other visa, the Japanese embassy (or consulate) will ask him a copy of his criminal record and in such case he's SOL.

By the way, if I wanted to nitpick, the message to which I responded said "enter", not "land". :D

In immigration parlance, "enter" means "enter", "land" means "pass through immigration by obtaining a landing permission". It is important to remember that even though the term "enter Japan" is commonly used to mean the latter, in fact the area before immigration is just as much in Japan as the one after it, so that usage is improper, and immigration says "land" instead.

So someone who cannot "enter" Japan will not be allowed, for example, to board their flight. Someone who cannot "land" will not be able to go through immigration, even though they can "enter" Japan (if only the part of it that's before immigration).

That's depressing, but at least it gives me something to work on. I came to terms with how many barriers I'll face upon getting released from a maximum security penitentiary, and Ill do my best to work through them.

Thank you all for your timely, courteous responses.