I lived in Japan and understand what you're talking about. Never started a company like you or brandelune but I have done endless piles of bank paperwork and software tech support in Japanese. Message me directly if you want to talk more, but I would apply for a software job in your home country and if you land it then move out of Japan. If the software applications don't land you anything then I would stay in Japan as an English teacher and use your software knowledge to connect you with higher paying clients like traveling software engineers or software company managers.
> I have honestly thought about suicide, or just fleeing the country.
Make sure to tell your closest friend about this. There's no shame at all in anything that you've tried so far. And your life is worth way more than corporate success in a country that drowns itself in bureaucratic paperwork.
I spent four years growing up in Japan (my parents were ESL teachers) and I attended Japanese public schools for 2nd/3rd grade and sophomore year of college. What the article says is very true; I feel like strangers can be trusted in Japan but not here in NYC. There is strong pressure in Japan to do what's good for others: be clean, be quiet, be honest, be economical. There is also strong pressure to follow the social norm and to not take risks, which affects startup culture in Japan like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8573992 describes well. Both these traits have one thing in common: they point to Japan's exceptionally homogenous culture. I really wish we could have the ubiquitous "care for others" mentality alongside the "be yourself" mentality, but so far I've not seen anywhere that is very much the case. If anyone has seen it I'm really interested to know.