yukitokujpnblog

[yukitokujpnblog]

A story about a large Japanese corporate "salaryman" who got a "basic income" when he quit his job to do what he truly loves(3)

I was carefree before I left the company, but after I quit, the reality of being unemployed suddenly hit me. My annual income had been over 12 million yen(80,000USD), reduced to zero. Moreover, there was no prospect of funding my next challenge.

As the Japanese saying goes, "poverty dulls the spirit," and material scarcity leads to mental malfunction. Although I had enough savings to live for the foreseeable future, the mere fact that we have no regular income makes us hopelessly anxious. When I saw how I was shocked beyond expectation that my salary was not coming in every month, I could see how stability-oriented I was.

Even if I start a business, it will only generate income if there is a prospect. Even if I change jobs as hard as possible and find a job, the conditions will probably be worse than my previous job. Moreover, I may not do what I wanted even by risking own position. If that is the case, why did I quit that company?

I began to blame myself, thinking that I had made a foolish decision , even though I decided to quit. I lost my appetite and started having trouble sleeping.

As I spent sleepless days, I realized that I had been able to live a stable life because I had a foundation. Because of my income, I was able to buy what I wanted every day, go out to eat frequently, and travel abroad. When the income is gone, I can no longer take any action.

This means that my life depends on my environment. My health, my family's happiness, and other factors are usually invisible, but these factors contribute a lot to my internal happiness.

In the face of such a harsh reality, I was powerless to do anything about my ability to get out of my clogs. I felt ashamed of myself for being so arrogant.

I also realized how admirable my parents were for working until retirement, even though they probably went through many hardships, and my friends who make living as freelancers without belonging to a company. I had mistakenly thought that joining a large company had raised my level, but I was still me. I realized that I was being kept alive by something.

However, after a round of languishing, I thought, "I lost a lot, but I gained a lot, too. First, I now have more time and space in my mind. Before, even on weekends, I could not stop thinking about work, and I had never been able to relax genuinely.

Second, now I can devote my time to blogging and cultural activities without worrying. I challenge myself to the fullest in the things I like to do. Because of this, people around me have told me that my personality has become more open-minded since I left the company.

Above all, by taking time to reflect on myself, I have come to look at things dispassionately and realize that I had been obsessing over things more than necessary and neglecting things that should have been priceless to me. I could have these thoughts because, after all, I left the company.

In the end, the question in the previous article, "Do you take what you love or take a stable job?" is straightforward, and it may be that you can still have something hard either way and also that you can gain something either way.

However, I am sorry to ruin the atmosphere in which I talked about good things. But, I wouldn't say I liked it.

I didn't want to work a job I wouldn't say I liked while saying, "Well, that's just the way life is," or to struggle with my daily meals while saying, "I'm chasing my dream".

Moreover, in my case, rather than pursuing my dream, I was doing something that I was convinced would be important for Japan and the world, so I thought, "If I could just focus on my activities, my performance would improve tremendously. I could do more for others." I thought to myself.

A reference point is the so-called "athlete hiring system". Major companies in Japan are hiring sports athletes. When athletes the company supports are successful in Japan and the world, it gives the Japanese people dreams and serves as publicity for the company. It is a very excellent system.

On the other hand, I also wondered why this employment is limited to sports. There are different types of jobs besides sports that can give dreams and hope to the world. Some people work hard behind the scenes doing important social contribution activities that no one else does.

Of course, there are reasons why more media exposure is more beneficial to the sponsoring company, but it is all about what the company perceives. Some companies may consider something other than media exposure an attraction.

If so, there may be a company that understands the purpose and intent of my activities and would be supportive.

About six months before I left the company, I came up with the idea of this hiring system and discussed it with several management acquaintances. They all described it as an "interesting mechanism," but none would hire me. When I asked them why, they said the benefits were the bottleneck.

They said, "You are doing a good job, but not good enough for my company to pay for it.

This was a frustrating but valid statement, and I failed to convey the value of my efforts. That's all there is to it.

I decided to stop playing the lottery and work diligently, and made up my mind, "It's time for me to start looking for a new job," and that's when I met Mr.A.

[yukitokujpnblog]

A story about a large Japanese corporate "salaryman" who got a "basic income" when he quit his job to do what he truly loves(2)

It is another beautiful day here today. I will start by discussing my circumstances more specifically.

My favorite things are traditional Japanese and world culture. When I say culture, I mean a wide range of things. Still, in my case, I am interested in tangible things like ancient excavations and traditional crafts, intangible things like dances and festivals, and spirituality like the tea ceremony and wabi-sabi (leaving aside whether I understand them in depth).

I love to travel and have visited 80 countries, but whenever I see a new country or city, I always try to visit the local history museum. My love of world history as a high school student, reading textbooks and handbooks, may have also influenced my love of culture.

In 2015, I joined a traditional Japanese company and continued to work there while interspersing my studies abroad. At first, I worked in sales, but it wasn't a good fit, and I agonized over it for several years. To change those circumstances, I took a leave from the company to study abroad at my own expense.

I learned in the Middle East to get to know the region where I would study, but on the contrary, I realized how little I knew about my own culture. I became interested in traditional Japanese culture, and from around 2020, I managed a cultural exchange project between Japan and other countries.

After returning to Japan from my study abroad, I worked in writing and analysis, my specialty. I continued to work steadily on my cultural initiatives while holding down my main job.

Obviously, because it was almost a hobby, I was not in a situation where someone was paying me continuously (i.e., I could monetize the project). I used part of my savings to pay for the activities, so we were in the red. Even so, a few people cooperated with the fundraising, and our activities might resonate with some, but not all, people.

Three and a half years have passed since I started my cultural activities in 2024. My day job was fulfilling, and I enjoyed continuing my cultural activities. However, one day, my boss suddenly called me and told me to go back to work in sales.

I did not want to return to a sales job because I loved researching and analyzing. In addition, the sales department is hard work, so I could not do the cultural activities I had been doing. I had assumed a rotation was possible, but I thought it would be a different year.

Suddenly, I was confronted with the question, "Do I do what I love or take on a stable job?

I was torn between the two, but ultimately, I quit.

[yukitokujpnblog]

A story about a large Japanese corporate "salaryman" who got a "basic income" when he quit his job to do what he truly loves.

At the end of July 2024, I will leave the large Japanese traditional company I worked for for 9.5 years. Since my work environment will be changing, I thought of blogging.

The title: A story about a big-company salaryman who earned a "basic income" when he quit his job to do what he loves.

Work for money (rice work) is necessary but not rewarding. Work you love (life work) is enjoyable but needs to be more stable.

This is a difficult question that many people have been asking since ancient times. I have thought about this theme many times while working for a company.

Thankfully, I have found an option that is neither of the two.

The new workplace offered me a condition: "You must pursue only what you love. Even you no longer have to do tasks for the company or not: that doesn't matter. The company will pay your salary and will also pay your social insurance premiums and pension. You may go on business trips anytime"

I want to describe the details of the situation, including my own, at another time. Still, when I told this story, most people said, "I have never heard of such employment," some were concerned for my safety, wondering if they were being cheated somehow.

I am still in the pre-employment stage, and I am unsure whether or not this is the case. Still, I have met with CEO several times, told him about myself, listened to what he said, and built a solid human relationship with him.

In this blog, I would like to continue writing about such "unprecedented examples" at my own pace, but my primary objective would not make this blog like typical self-help books.

To begin with, I honestly believe that it is 99.9% lucky that I am in such a happy position, so I cannot say, "Do this, and you will be like me".

However, as a side objective, I want to help people like me who want to do something specific and can take on the challenge without worrying about it if they can secure a few years and a minimum amount of money.

A friend of mine said, "Knowing that an employment structure like your position is possible could be helpful to those who want to do something but are struggling to take the plunge."

So, I decided to publish this report as a blog partly because I was strongly advised.

Finally, it sounds strange, but there is an expressive error in the title. According to the Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. glossary of securities terms, the definition of basic income is "a system under which the government provides all citizens, regardless of gender or age, with the minimum amount necessary for living without conditions," so just one person receiving it cannot be a basic income.

However, I believe that many people, including myself, can infer the meaning from the term "basic income," so please allow me to add the self-contradictory phrase "a basic income for one person in effect.

I will continue to write about how I came to this position in the following article.