Things must've changed a bit since I spent a year in Fukoka in 97/98 while in secondary school, if people can live comfortably on 2M JPY/year. That means I should be able to easily save up enough to stay comfortably in (rural) Japan for the length of a tourist visa without any problem!

Please do send an email (see profile) if/when you're interested in expanding -- it would be great to be able to move to Japan! :-)