I've lived elsewhere in Japan in fucked and boring inaka. 1 positive thing is that on one or two occasions the local Immi office actually had human beings who were helpful and gave you info about how to be more independent by freelancing.
Tokyo seems to be different. I've got mates who've had shitty experiences at the Immi office that starts with Shin...They said it was like a kick in the shins when they tried to get out of their horrible jobs and freelance by teaching at different places. They said in Tokyo you will get stonewalled if you try to do this to renew your visa as the drones at Shin... will demand a sponsor. No guarantor, no new visa.
So bang goes your chance at freeing yourself from cunts controlling you and making your life miserable at one school. This sounds incredibly narrow and seems aimed at restricting fucked gaijins but is it true? In another part of Japan I once did the self sponsorship bit. I put together a raft of part time jobs and the Immi people rocked - they helped me with lots of advice and said just put one of your employer's names down as a token sponsor. I was making 260,000 yen per month with 5 jobs.
So are the shinkickers at Shin Office so ready to screw the eager gaijin?