Eating One Meal a Day and Investing ¥3.46 Million a Month... Japan’s Belated ‘FIRE Boom’

【Financial News Tokyo=Correspondent Hye-jin Seo】Japan’s young people are embracing a boom in Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE)—building up their assets and leaving the workforce early, Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 4th. While FIRE gained attention in South Korea in 2020 and 2021 amid a liquidity-driven market following the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan’s investment fever has only recently begun to heat up, fueled by the New NISA and a stock-market rally.
Yomiuri Shimbun reported that some young people in Japan have successfully retired early, while others have gone so far as to cut their meals to once a day to raise money for investments. The new term “NISA poverty” has even emerged to describe people who invest in NISA while cutting their living expenses excessively.

Japan’s investment boom gained momentum after the New NISA was introduced in 2024. A preference for cash, entrenched by prolonged deflation and sluggish stock markets following the bursting of the bubble, began to weaken as prices and stock values rose. According to the Bank of Japan (BOJ), cash and deposits accounted for more than 50% of household financial assets throughout the 2010s, but the share fell below 50% for the first time in 2025.
The Japanese government introduced the New NISA in 2024, expanding investment limits and tax benefits, which rapidly increased young people’s participation in the market. The New NISA is a system under which profits from investments in stocks and funds are exempt from taxation without a time limit.
As of the end of last year, cumulative NISA purchases had reached ¥71 trillion (approximately 614.15 trillion won), double the 2023 figure. According to the Financial Services Agency of Japan, 26% of people in their 20s and 38% of those in their 30s hold NISA accounts. Purchase amounts also rose more than threefold among people in their 20s and nearly fourfold among those in their 30s compared with 2023.
The number of young people seeking early retirement has also increased. In a 2025 survey conducted by the Persol Research Institute, 29.4% of men in their 20s and 26.1% of men in their 30s said they wanted to retire at age 50 or younger. For both age groups, the figures were more than twice as high as in the 2017 survey.
There have also been cases of people leaving their jobs after building wealth through investments. A 36-year-old man living in Chiba Prefecture invested in stocks and other assets with his wife for seven years. After their assets exceeded ¥50 million (approximately 432.5 million won), he quit the major company where he had worked for six years at the end of 2021.
The couple are raising a daughter in the second grade of elementary school and spend weekdays playing table tennis or visiting cafés. The man said, "Compared with when I was working for a company, I have an entirely different amount of free time," adding, "Being able to watch my daughter grow up close every day is something I would not trade for anything." To guard against investment losses, he also earns several hundred thousand yen a month through video production and other work.

By contrast, some people are drastically cutting back on their current lifestyles in pursuit of early retirement.
A 32-year-old office worker living in Nerima invests about ¥400,000 (approximately 3.46 million won) every month in NISA and other products. He keeps his monthly living expenses below ¥50,000 (approximately 430,000 won) and has reduced his meals to once a day. He even works delivery jobs on holidays, but puts most of his income into investments.
The man said, "In an era of inflation, the value of assets declines even if you save money," adding, "For now, I want to endure this period and invest intensively. Once I build up my assets, I want to spend money on travel and leisure."
NISA poverty was also discussed at the House of Representatives’ Finance and Financial Affairs Committee in Japan last March. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said, "I was shocked."
Experts are concerned that many young investors who have recently entered the market have experienced only rising markets. A sharp market shift could reduce their assets, and retiring early could also lower the amount they receive in severance pay and pensions.
Economist Koji Kawata, a former BOJ official, warned, "Most people who started investing recently have experienced nothing but success. Investment always involves risk. They must always keep in mind that becoming overly absorbed in it can lead to major losses."

[email protected] Hye-jin Seo Reporter