Marriage/Returning to Japan

Hello. I have been married to a Japanese national for 3 years now. She has her permanent resident visa (just got a new one a year ag for 10 years) and we live in Ohio. My question is this. I want to return to Japan to visit and possibly look for work. My passport has expired, so Im in the process of getting a new one. We were married in Japan and I have all the paperwork from our marriage. Now, when I come to Japan do I need to apply for a residence visa from the US? If so then how Do i do it from the US where we live since I am not currently living in Japan or can I just come on a temporary visa for 3 months and apply while we are visiting? I just dont want to get in trouble if we decide to stay longer but Im not sure really how long we will be staying. Thanks.

Mike,

You should apply for a Spouse visa before you move to Japan. Without that, you would just be issued with a 3-month tourist visa on arrival at the airport, which may or may not give you enough time to apply for a Spouse visa while in Japan.
You can consider applying for a Permanent Resident visa once you have lived in the country for a few (five?) years.