I know that's fine for some countries such as the Philippines (though their tourist visa can be extended so long, it's rarely necessary) but IIRC this doesn't fly in Japan, it's 90 days per year, total, and they're very strict about it.
(edit: I could be wrong about the 2 stay max. It might be higher. I'm pretty sure I entered Japan more than 2 times in a single year on a visa-free waver, but I don't know if there's some window that applies.)
That may have been what I was thinking, I recall on my first trip there, they were pretty strict and wanted to know exactly where I was staying I even had to show them on the map. For my wife's tourist visa we had to apply to a travel agency that was a liaison with the Japan embassy (The Japan embassy required it, you couldn't apply directly in her country) and the process was very tedious, we had to include a day-by-day itinerary, and all kinds of documentation. All that to say I guess when I hear that Japan is strict about something, I just take that as it's not worthwhile to try and get around it.
[1] Both are countries with lots of unskilled folks who desperately want to work in Japan.
The three main things JP passport control are looking for are asylum seekers, people over and people that are illegally working under the table and not paying into the Japanese tax/retirement system.