Does Japanese nationality or permanent residency "expire" if you're outside Japan too long?

215 USE BY JUN 30
Permanent Residency can go rotten if unused.
One of naturalization's benefits is that it truly is permanent, in that no matter how long you are outside of Japan, it never expires.

Contrary to its name, there is nothing that is truly "permanent" about the Status of Residence (在留資格 {zairyū shikaku}; SoR) known as "PERMANENT RESIDENT" (永住者 {eijūsha}; PR) or even "SPECIAL PERMANENT RESIDENT" (特別永住者 {tokubetu eijūsha}; SPR). You do not have to promise, state, or even intend to live in Japan permanently to receive it. On the other hand, if you leave Japan for more than a year without a re-entry permit or you are outside of Japan for a long enough time that your re-entry permit expires, the PR SoR will become invalid.

Thus, if a family or work emergency requires you to leave Japan for a long time (years), and it is not possible to occasionally return to Japan to renew the re-entry permit, it is possible to lose one's permanent residency status in Japan. You would have to re-qualify to live (and possibly work) in Japan again.

Although this is a possibility for most as we and our overseas families age, most people consider permanent resident status to be "good enough" and "permanent enough".

Permanent Resident status, in addition to losing it by being outside of Japan too long, can also be revoked if you commit certain types of crimes. Naturalization / Japanese nationality cannot be revoked for crimes committed after receiving it. Some countries have passed, or are considering passing, laws which enable the government to remove nationality from dual nationals (because doing so would not leave them stateless) who have committed acts or terrorism or treason. Japan is not (yet) one of those countries. Japanese nationality can be revoked after receiving it if they discover that any part of the application is fraudulent or incomplete. This is called administrative denaturalization.

An alien losing "permanent" residency by being outside of the country is not something that is unique to Japan. You can lose United States Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status by being outside of America for more than one year. You can extend this to two years by getting a non-renewable Re-Entry Permit, valid for one year. Ironically, however, U.S. tax filing obligations for a LPR can be permanent if they resided in America for more than eight years — even if they leave the United States and no longer work for a U.S. company or earn U.S. dollars; they need to file a I-407 to get out of this and officially give up their status.

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