Urgent Visa help

I'm a US citizen going to Japan tomorrow. Got my passport and I understand that I don't need a visa BEFORE going and that I can get the 90-day tourist visa stamp when I arrive, right?

Question; I am staying with my fiance and was HOPING to get a job while I get there and apply for a work-visa once I find a job so I can stay with him...

Does it not work this way? It seems that I'm reading different stuff from different places.

Is there anyway to legally get a job there and switch my visa and stay longer without having to first leave the country and come back?

Somebody told me that with the tourist visa stamp they make you leave at 90 days no matter what even if I were to marry the guy.

Help?

I'm a US citizen going to Japan tomorrow. Got my passport and I understand that I don't need a visa BEFORE going and that I can get the 90-day tourist visa stamp when I arrive, right?

Yes, you can enter Japan as "temporary visitor" with just your passport.

Is there anyway to legally get a job there and switch my visa and stay longer without having to first leave the country and come back?

Yes, it is possible. The process is as follows:

1) You get a job offer

2) Your employer gets you a "certificate of eligibility". This process typically takes between two weeks and three months. If your tourist visa expires in the meantime, you would have to leave Japan once.

3) Once you get your "certificate of eligibility", you can apply for a "change of status of residence" from "temporary visitor" to "worker" at an immigration office inside Japan. This process typically takes less than two weeks. If your tourist visa expires in the meantime, you can remain in Japan.

For some reason, there are quite a few sources, including embassies (!) which falsely claim that it is not possible to change from tourist to worker without leaving Japan.

A bit late to start researching this kind of thing the day before you leave!

Have you found out whether you will actually be eligible for a working visa, i.e. you have at least a Bachelor's degree? What kind of work will you be looking for? This is a very dead time of the year for finding a job, just like it probably is where you come from, particlularly so if you will be looking for an English teaching job.

You can be fairly certain that if you are eligible for a visa and find a job, the process will probably take long enough that you will have to leave Japan once.

If you get married you can stay as a dependent, but you have to apply for this status which also takes time.