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What 永住権 actually requires, and what it is not
The ordinary route to permanent residence asks for ten consecutive years of residence in Japan, of which at least five must be on a working status, together with good conduct, an income that supports you independently, and — this is the part that trips people — a clean record of having actually paid your taxes, pension and social insurance. That last requirement was always on paper and has been checked seriously since 2019, which means a year of unpaid 年金 contributions from early on can cost you an application years later. There are faster routes. The 高度専門職 points system scores your education, income, age and Japanese ability, and seventy points lets you apply after three years while eighty lets you apply after one. Marriage to a Japanese national is its own route. What permanent residence gives you is a status that does not expire and is not tied to an employer, so you can change job or lose one without your right to be in the country changing — which is the real value of it, and it is considerable. What it does not give you is citizenship. You keep your nationality and your passport; you still carry a 在留カード and still renew the card every seven years; you still need a 再入国許可 if you will be out of Japan for more than a year, and leaving without one can end the status; and, as lesson 99 said, you still cannot vote. 帰化 is the other thing entirely: about five years of residence, and the renunciation of your other nationality, because Japan does not permit adults to hold two.