We have Japanese employees who come to our US branch for a few months work.
They all just show up with tourist visas. I don't think the INS is terribly
strict about these kinds of short-term stays, esp for Japanese nationals.
The converse also appears to be true. I did 6 months research at a company
lab in Japan using just a tourist visa, and a one week excursion out of the
country to extend it.

Marc

"John R. Yamamoto-Wilson" <john@rarebooksinjapan.org> wrote in message
news:4eqca1F1em140U1@individual.net...
> [Posted on behalf of a friend]
>
> Suppose a Japanese national wants to go to the States for a couple of
months
> to do academic research. Does he/she need a visa?
>
> I think there used to be something called a J1 visa for Japanese people
> studying in the US. Is that right? But that was for longer periods of
time,
> I think.
>
> Thanks in advance for any information.
>
> --
> John
>