Quitting the Office to Make Bank in Japan

A 27-year-old in Japan quit her trading company job, became a taxi driver, and now makes ¥600k a month.

Okay, so while we're all sitting here worrying about AI taking our jobs, some people in Japan have apparently found the ultimate life hack: quitting their soul-crushing office jobs to go do something else entirely.

The Taxi Driver Gold Rush

Meet Reiko Aoyama. She's 27 and used to work in sales for a trading company—you know the type. She told a reporter she was constantly out-selling her seniors, but because of the whole rigid, seniority-based pay scale, her salary was way lower. Sound familiar? 🥲

So she quit. Now she drives a taxi. Her salary has more than doubled, hitting ¥600,000 in a good month. Her reason was simple and painfully relatable: "I just wanted to get paid for the work I actually do."

It's not just about the money, though. Another guy, Hironori Kinoshita, 38, left his 15-year corporate career because of the mental toll. He talked about having to put down his own team members to save himself, and the pressure to say "black is white" to get promoted. Now he works just 12 days a month as a driver, earns roughly the same as his old salary, and says his newfound free time is "unbelievably good."

The ¥15 Million Hustle

And then there are the people who are just on another level. This article profiled Takuto Sakane, a 39-year-old air conditioner installer. It's a tough job, sure, carrying units that weigh up to 60kg.

But his annual income? About ¥15 million.

He's a one-man army, known for his speed. He can apparently install three AC units in three hours, earning him around ¥100,000 for that work alone. In his busiest month last year, he pulled in ¥4 million in sales. After expenses, that was ¥3 million in his pocket. For one month's work.

His whole philosophy is just pure hustle. He doesn't take breaks during busy season. "If I finish early," he says, "I can get more jobs."

His plan is to keep this up, make bank, and then retire around 50 to just chill. A mood, honestly.