What is the procedure if a foreign national would like to stay in Japan? 

There are kinds of procedures for a landing examination to examine whether the foreigner meets the conditions for entry into Japan and for a status examination to examine the activities, during his/her stay, etc..

1. Landing examination
A landing examination first examines whether the applicant holds a valid passport and visa, the applied period of stay is accordance with the provisions and also examines whether there are any grounds for refusal of landing, whether the applicant's reasons for entry are not false, and whether activities during the applicant's activities should fall under one of the statuses. In addition to them, the statuses of residence and respective activities are stipulated in the Immigration Control Law as Annex Tables.
Furthermore, the certain status of residence should conform to the criteria prescribed by the Ministry of Justice (ministerial ordinance concerning the criteria). However, the status such as "diplomat", "professor", "artist", "religious activity" and "Journalist" does not need to meet such criteria.
In cases of status of residence as "investor and business manager", while the Ministerial Ordinance sets the requirement as business having no less than two full-time staff, the guideline set in December, 2000, provides that if an investment of certain scale (at more than JPY 5 million) is constantly maintained, then it is considered as such requirement being met.
Furthermore, guidelines on "establishment (location) of business office" and "continuation of the business" was issued on August, 2005. If the business is conducted using parts of a rented property, then requirements include agreement by the owner of the property, securing rooms solely for use for the business, clarification of arrangements regarding shared costs such as public utility payments, and display of public signs such as signposts. Also, because figures for business activities may be recorded as a loss or losses for various reasons, the decision criteria of business activities is provided as based on annual statement of account figures for the previous two accounting years, not on a single annual statement, and along with this are various decision criteria depending on the status of the closed accounts.

2. Status examination
In an examination for the acquisition or change of status of residence, it is examined whether the applicant's activities during his intended stay fall under any of the statuses of residence prescribed by the Immigration Control Law and acquisition or change of status of residence will be approved only when ti is recognized that there is an appropriate reason for it.
Furthermore, the authorized period of stay is prescribed for each status. For extension of the authorized period of stay, the situation of the applicant's stay in Japan including his/her activities is examined and permission is granted when the results of an examination shows that the grounds for extension of the period of stay are deemed to be justifiable.