Even with assets of ¥100 million, they dress in UNIQLO and drink at izakaya (Japanese style pubs)! A rational reason why the “Thin Wealthy” will never raise their standard of living.

Against the backdrop of historically high stock prices, the number of ordinary company employees and government employees who have become “billionaires before they know it” is increasing rapidly.

However, their lives are surprisingly modest. They are not interested in luxury cars or townhouses. They continue to wear the same UNIQLO clothes they have always worn and spend their evenings drinking cheap shochu at the same izakaya (Japanese-style pub). They are known as the “thin rich,” living within their paychecks and quietly amassing assets.

How did they get over the billion-dollar barrier, and why don’t they try to raise their standard of living?　We asked Katsuhide Takahashi, CEO of Malibu Japan Co., Ltd. and an expert on the ecology of the wealthy, about their hidden realities.

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Ordinary company employees becoming “billionaires”?

According to estimates released by Nomura Research Institute (NRI) in February 2013, the number of wealthy and ultra-wealthy households in Japan has reached approximately 1,653,000 in total, and their total net financial assets have reached a record high of approximately 469 trillion yen.

As the stock and real estate markets soar with the arrival of the global “money glut,” the number of the world’s wealthy is increasing due to the “asset effect” from the increase in assets held and unrealized gains and sales profits from further investments.

The wealthy in Japan can be classified into three main categories. (1) the traditional wealthy, such as landowners, doctors, and corporate executives; (2) the newly wealthy, such as founders of IT companies, start-up entrepreneurs, and executives of foreign-affiliated companies; and (3) the wealthy through inheritance and other means.

In the midst of this trend, there are more and more cases of ordinary company employees and civil servants, who are not corporate executives or entrepreneurs, becoming wealthy individuals with financial assets of over 100 million yen.

Mr. A, 45, who lives along the Odakyu Line in Tokyo, works for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a civil servant and earns about 7.5 million yen a year. His classmate’s wife works as an office worker for a listed company in Tokyo and earns about 4.5 million yen a year. Although their combined income is 12 million yen, they still have a small mortgage on their condominium, and due to the high cost of living, they continue to lead a modest life.

The other day, while on the train to work, he looked at his online securities account application and saw that the total balance of his individual stock holdings and index investment trusts had exceeded the 100 million yen mark. He smiled and said, “My investment in investment trusts and individual stocks, which I had been steadily accumulating, had turned into a large sum of money before I knew it,” and showed us a screenshot of the “proof screen” of his 100 million yen.

The unprecedented stock market boom that gave birth to a billionaire

How did an ordinary company employee or civil servant like Mr. A manage to reach the 100 million yen mark in financial assets? It was the rise in the stock market.

At the end of 2012, the stock price reached 39,894 yen, surpassing the 1989 level (38,915 yen) during the bubble period and reaching a record high at the end of the year for the first time in 35 years. The following year, at the end of ’25, the Nikkei Stock Average reached 50,339 yen, exceeding the 10,000-yen mark for the year and surpassing the 50,000-yen mark for the first time in history. This is a 1.8-fold increase from 27,444 yen at the end of 2008, nearly doubling the previous year’s figure. It has risen even higher in recent days, reaching a high of 58,753 yen at the close on February 26, ’26.

The long-running monetary easing measures of (1) the central banks of Japan, the U.S., and Europe, and (2) the creditworthiness of the governments of these industrialized nations have led to a global “money glut,” and the asset effect of rising stock prices and soaring real estate prices has increased the number of wealthy individuals.

After all, the source of the wealth of the wealthy, both old and new, has in most cases come from the power of equities (including entrepreneurship and management) and real estate. This is true whether they are traditionally wealthy or “billionaires before you know it.

Dual approach: savings and individual stocks

The “unknowingly billionaires” have been saving and investing since they were new employees, and have continued to do so even during the long period of deflation and recession, when interest rates on savings were almost zero and the Nikkei 225 was in a prolonged slump. After the new NISA started in 2012, the rise in stock prices over the past few years has generated large unrealized gains.

Of course, there are probably very few people who have become millionaires solely by using index funds, which are the representative of accumulation investments.

This is the result of additional factors such as the fact that individual stocks of U.S. GAFA such as Tesla and NVIDIA have doubled, tripled, and in some cases increased tenfold, or that individual stocks of Tokyo Electron and Advantest have similarly increased many times over.

Mr. B, a wholesale company employee in his 50s who lives in Yokohama, is one such person who has become a billionaire thanks to “the sharp rise in the stock prices of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Fujikura, Advantest, and other companies in which he invested five years ago and the proceeds from the sale of those stocks.

Over 100 million, but his personal life is simple.

An ordinary company employee or civil servant, who had disciplined his daily life and continued to invest without hesitation, found that his financial assets had exceeded 100 million yen. These “sin-wealthy” have become “billionaires before they know it,” and they do not flaunt their riches on social networking sites by buying brand-name goods, eating at fancy restaurants, traveling abroad, etc., nor do they flaunt their riches to those around them. They continue to quietly hold on to their assets while working at companies and government offices and blending into their daily lives.

The image of the “wealthy” is not quite the same as that of executives, doctors, and entrepreneurs who drive luxury foreign cars, live in tower apartments, and are decked out in brand-name goods.

Clothes at Uniqlo, drinks at izakaya (Japanese-style pub)

Even though they have become “billionaires before they know it,” their everyday clothes are still the same as before: UNIQLO and Muji. Where they live and what they eat are the same as before.

Rather than making reservations at a fancy sushi restaurant in Ginza or a Michelin-starred restaurant, they go to their usual izakaya for everyday use, where they enjoy chatting about work and hobbies with friends and colleagues over a glass of shochu or lemon sour. A., a civil servant, says, “I feel more at ease at a familiar izakaya where I can enjoy myself with casual friends as I always have, rather than at a fancy restaurant with a stiff neck and shoulders.

Ignore the banks’ sales to the wealthy.

Usually, when a person’s financial assets reach 100 million yen, the wealthy people at banks and securities companies start soliciting him or her. In some cases, they are invited to luxurious lounges to receive proposals on asset management and tax-saving measures.

However, these “billionaires” continue to manage their assets as they always have.

They continue to steadily invest in savings accounts and buy and sell individual stocks through online securities firms such as SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities. Rather than face-to-face services provided by wealthy representatives at banks and securities firms, she prefers to trade with online banks and online securities firms because they are faster, cheaper, and offer a wider variety of products, and she can earn points for them.

Why they are not raising their standard of living

The reason why “someday billionaires” do not raise their standard of living even though they have 100 million yen in financial assets is not simply a desire to save money. There are rational reasons.

First, they are aware of the risk of raising their standard of living, which is that “once you raise your standard of living, you cannot lower it (ratchet effect).

In today’s world of high prices and uncertainty, 100 million yen is a lot of money, but with the average price of an existing condominium in Tokyo now exceeding 100 million yen, it is not an amount that will allow one to live in peace and quiet for the rest of one’s life. However, if one were to spend 10 million yen per year on travel and luxury goods, one would run out of money in 10 years.

They know that their 100 million yen in assets will be safe for the rest of their lives if they continue with their current “normal lifestyle,” but once they learn to live in luxury, it will melt away in the blink of an eye.

Defenses to Avoid Jealousy and Isolation

Second is “avoiding jealousy and isolation.

Growing inequality is a serious issue in Japan. According to the “Public Opinion Survey on Household Financial Behavior (2012)” conducted by the Organization for Promotion of Financial and Economic Education, 28.4% of all households have financial assets of 10 million yen or more, while 37.7% of all households have less than 1 million yen, and 26.9% of all households have zero assets. The situation is becoming increasingly polarized and disparate.

Under these circumstances, being known as “rich” at work or by those close to you can cause cracks in human relationships and lead to unnecessary trouble. The disadvantage of jealousy is greater than the advantage of being known as “rich. For them, living their lives as ordinary office workers or civil servants who still wear UNIQLO and go to the pub is a defensive measure to avoid jealousy and isolation and to protect their lifestyles.

In fact, even among the traditionally wealthy, it is an ironclad rule not to “show that you are wealthy. They know from firsthand experience that there is nothing to be gained by blabbing or flaunting one’s wealth or money, and in fact, it can be detrimental.

100 million yen is “mental security.

The “someday billionaires” are extremely rational and humble people who do not like to show off and value their lives as they have always lived them.

For them, 100 million yen in financial assets may not be a “war fund” to enjoy luxury, but a “security” to ensure their mental freedom. It is important for them to feel that they can quit their jobs at any time and that they do not have to worry about their retirement.

The “someday millionaires” can further increase their financial assets by living within their salary income and continuing to invest their surplus funds.

Mr. A lives along the Odakyu line. This morning, while riding a crowded train, he quietly opens an online securities application, checks his balance, which has increased from 100 million yen to 100 million yen due to the previous day’s stock price rise, and heads to his usual workplace as a public employee.