> it is not 90 days total per year, but the officials are strict on it.

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.