A Japanese woman who left her full time job and entered a “semi-retired” lifestyle at the age of 31 has decided to return to the corporate world after rising living costs disrupted her financial plans.
The woman, identified by the pseudonym Komoe, had accumulated assets worth approximately RM374,000 (15 million yen) before quitting her job and switching to part time work.
However, four years later, she said inflation had made her carefully planned lifestyle increasingly difficult to maintain.
Wanted to escape a stressful working life
According to Japanese financial publication The Gold Online, Komoe previously worked in sales at a large company.
She frequently worked late into the night and was placed under constant pressure by her supervisor to meet performance targets.
Over time, the demanding environment began affecting her physical and emotional wellbeing.
At the time, I just wanted to escape from that painful way of working as quickly as possible,” she said.
After her assets reached approximately RM374,000 (15 million yen) at the age of 31, Komoe decided to resign from her full time position.
She planned to survive by working part time while keeping her monthly expenses as low as possible.
Lived on about RM2,496 a month
Komoe said she did not need to live in a luxurious apartment, buy branded clothing or dine at expensive restaurants.
Her monthly living expenses were initially around RM2,496 (100,000 yen).
She moved into an older apartment near a train station, where the monthly rent was about RM998 (40,000 yen).
She also found a part-time administrative position at a small local company, earning a take home salary of approximately RM3,245 (130,000 yen) each month.
At first, the new lifestyle felt ideal.
She no longer had to work overtime or worry about sales targets. She could leave work on time every day, slowly prepare coffee at home and even had enough free time to manage a YouTube channel.
Inflation caused expenses to rise
However, after four years, Komoe grew increasingly anxious about her future.
The cost of food, utilities and daily necessities continued to rise, pushing her monthly expenses from RM2,496 (100,000 yen) to RM3,245 (130,000 yen).
This left her part time income barely enough to cover her basic needs.
Her carefully planned budget collapsed, and her already frugal lifestyle began to feel suffocating.
Her landlord was also considering raising the rent, while future expenses such as medical care in old age remained uncertain.
She began to realise that continuing this way could mean working until her 70s or even 80s.
Decided to return to full time employment
Komoe was eventually forced to choose between returning to full time employment or continuing to work part time for the rest of her life.
Although the idea of returning to full time work frightened her, she felt that at 35, she still had time to rebuild her career.
She worried that delaying the decision would make stable employment harder to secure later.
Getting older with no job and no money would be the most frightening situation,” she said.
Komoe has since decided to look for a permanent position.
She added that her experience taught her that financial plans cannot always keep up with economic changes.
“I deeply realised that the times and economic conditions are constantly changing,” she said.
The life simulation I made several years ago is no longer applicable today.”
