“I Inherited 1.5 Billion Yen and Was About to Hang Myself”: Comedian Kei Maeda on Her Huge Inheritance and the Days She Played the Role of a “Rich Person”

“If I hadn’t met that person, I would have hanged myself. It was really a close call.”

That’s how Kei Maeda (44), who used to perform as a castanet comedian, reflects on those days.
In 2015, she attracted attention when she announced that she had been adopted by a wealthy woman and inherited a massive fortune of approximately 1.5 billion yen.

However, she says the following two years were spent scrambling to come up with strategies to pay the inheritance tax. Maeda opened up about everything from the behind-the-scenes story of the inheritance and her struggles to her views on marriage.

From a 60,000-yen-a-month Apartment to 1.5 Billion Yen in Assets

Maeda was originally a musician living in a 1DK apartment with a rent of 60,000 yen, located about a 15-minute walk from the station. His monthly income from part-time work as a home health aide and as an emcee was just under 200,000 yen. Then, one day,

“A friend of my grandmother’s who lived in Nagoya asked me, ‘Will you become my adopted son?’ I was the third son of four brothers and had been doing whatever I pleased in Tokyo since I was around 20, and since she was just a friend of my grandmother’s, I agreed on a whim, thinking, ‘Well, why not?’”

In reality, my lifestyle didn’t change at all after I was adopted. The only condition set was that I “drop by her house in Nagoya once a month.”

“There were caregivers and housekeepers at that person’s home. What was expected of me wasn’t to take care of her personal needs, but to ‘become the heir who would look after the house and the family grave.’”

My grandmother had this request:

“I want you to quit being a musician.”

My adoptive mother had served as a teacher of hanamichi and tea ceremony, and had experience working as a geisha. It was advice born of her understanding of just how difficult it is to make a living through the performing arts.

“I thought, ‘Are you serious?’But since she didn’t actually tell me to quit show business altogether, I shifted my mindset to think, ‘Well, then, I’ll do something with the music I’ve created,’ and posted a video of my castanet performance on YouTube. It ended up ‘going viral,’ as they say today, and I ended up appearing on an NHK program. I was scouted by the talent agency Oscar Promotion.”

When I showed my adoptive mother the program I’d appeared on and told her I was “going to work as a comedian,” she gave me an unexpected reaction.

“‘This is great,’ she said. I didn’t become a comedian because I wanted to; I became a castanet comedian so I could continue making music while working in show business.”

About five years after being adopted, when his adoptive mother was hospitalized with a high fever, Maeda learned the full extent of her assets for the first time.

“The accountant showed me the documents. They listed the land, parking lots, and condominiums she owned, but at first I didn’t really understand… It wasn’t until he explained it in detail that I realized the assets totaled 1.5 billion yen. The accountant also told me that we’d have to pay about 670 million yen in inheritance tax.”

He was also told that if he couldn’t come up with the money, he could simply surrender the land to the government. However, Maeda was left with a nagging sense of unease.

“I wondered, ‘Is it really okay to make a decision based solely on what this person says?’ So, as a sort of second opinion, I consulted another firm that specializes in inheritance matters. When they re-examined the assets from scratch, the appraised value remained the same at about 1.5 billion yen, but they said the inheritance tax, taking deductions and other factors into account, would come to about 440 million yen. That’s a difference of over 200 million yen.”

The new firm I hired even advised me on which properties to sell to raise the funds for the tax payment, as well as how to proceed with the necessary evictions and building demolitions.

“I wanted to continue my career in the entertainment industry in Tokyo. I was really grateful that they took my personal circumstances into account as well.If I’d just sold off all my land and buildings as the first accountant told me to, I would have lost my rental income and might not even have been able to pay my property taxes. It might sound like an exaggeration, but if I hadn’t met that accountant who gave me a second opinion, I think I would have ended up hanging myself.”

It took two years before he publicly disclosed the “1.5 billion yen inheritance.”

“Inheritance tax must be paid within 10 months of the person’s death. Even if you want to sell the land, if there’s a building on it, you have to evict the occupants and demolish the structure. It takes time. Moreover, it’s not just a matter of having the money ready. It all started with checking the family register to confirm whether I was truly the sole heir.”

After somehow raising approximately 440 million yen and paying the inheritance tax, Maeda was informed about the “next round of taxes.” He was told that selling real estate to pay the tax would result in taxes on the capital gains from the sale.

“I had to think about the taxes I’d have to pay the following year, too. Land isn’t something you can sell right away at a thrift store or through an app, like clothes. Since it’s a high-value transaction, I had to carefully vet the buyer as well.”

Although Maeda had almost no knowledge of real estate, he felt uneasy about leaving everything entirely in the hands of experts. Every time he received a proposal, he asked for an explanation until he was fully satisfied.

“I was constantly afraid of being scammed. I’m sure the people at the accounting firm thought I was a hassle (laughs). Every time they proposed something, I’d say, ‘First, please explain that to me,’ and I wouldn’t let them proceed until I fully understood.”

Once I’d finished paying my taxes and my income from the property had stabilized, I was able to focus my energy on my entertainment career again. When I appeared on a TV show for the first time in a while and talked about the 1.5 billion yen inheritance, it immediately made the news. Two years had passed since I’d inherited the estate.

“Inheriting 1.5 billion yen isn’t the same as ‘receiving 1.5 billion yen.’ As the heir, I ‘took over’ the assets. I knew my adoptive mother was a landlord of apartment buildings, and I was mentally prepared to take over the business. Still, when I actually saw the figure of 1.5 billion yen, I was surprised and thought, ‘Is there really this much?’”

However, I had no intention of quitting my entertainment career to focus solely on real estate.

“What I wanted to do, above all, was work in the entertainment industry. I knew I’d have to acquire the necessary knowledge to protect the real estate I’d inherited, but I also wanted to continue my own career. That desire never changed.”

“I was pushing myself too hard because I wanted to be on TV.”

After announcing his inheritance, Maeda’s life changed dramatically. He describes himself from that time as “out of my mind.”

“When I look at old photos, I see myself with a deep tan and my hair slicked back. I suppose I was trying to live up to the ‘rich guy’ persona the TV stations wanted me to portray.”

Maeda, who had absolutely no interest in designer brands, was stumped when program staff told him, “Please wear your most expensive clothes.” Reluctantly, he went to high-end boutiques and once spent over 1 million yen on an outfit, from shoes to a jacket.

“I’d never bought luxury brand clothes before. But back then, I wanted to be on TV and I wanted to live up to expectations. I couldn’t very well say, ‘I don’t own clothes that expensive,’” he said.

When he received an offer for a home visit segment, he completely redecorated his entire apartment.

“Just to be on the show, I went out of my way to move into a high-rise apartment and hired a designer to furnish it, spending about 3 million yen. It was practically like I built the room just to be on TV.”

“Nowadays, even if the show’s staff asked me to play the ‘rich girl’ character, I could say, ‘I don’t own any designer brands.’ My approach to the entertainment industry has shifted from ‘I just want to be on TV’ to ‘I want to do the work that I’m truly seeking.’”

One such project was his participation in the short drama *The Qualifications of a Professional Girlfriend*. He was approached by a producer he’d known since his days at Oscar Promotion and joined the project.

“I took the role simply because it seemed interesting. I’m truly happy that so many people are watching the show, and I feel really lucky.”

What he looks for in a spouse is “someone who loves me.”

Maeda has been blessed with good connections in his professional life. When asked about his personal life, he replied candidly, “I want to get married as soon as possible.”

“I’m looking for someone I can date with the intention of getting married. Maybe I’ll try a marriage agency. But… I think if I earn 8 million or 10 million yen a year, women looking for a partner would see me as someone with ‘good prospects.’ But if it’s ‘I inherited 1.5 billion yen,’ it doesn’t seem realistic, and I worry that might actually make me less likely to be chosen. Ever since I got involved with *The Qualities of a Professional Girlfriend*, I’ve been joking with the producers, saying, ‘Women are scary, aren’t they?’ (laughs)”

Precisely because he has such a large fortune, he sometimes worries about what his partner is looking for in him. He’s also concerned about how she’ll perceive his lifestyle, given that he juggles multiple careers—real estate, restaurants, video production, and entertainment work.

“To put it bluntly… as long as she likes me, that’s enough. I’m not aiming too high. It would be great to find someone who can experience both my work and personal life with me. I’d be happy if she understood without me having to explain everything from scratch—like, ‘Oh, today he’s working on real estate, and tomorrow it’s drama production.’”

Maeda also posts on TikTok under the theme of “lucky living.” When asked about the “characteristics of people who seize their luck,” he gave this answer.

“I think it’s someone who takes paths different from the usual ones and meets lots of people. Luck only comes from other people. If you just stay cooped up at home alone, nothing will change. Looking back, everything—from the 1.5 billion yen inheritance to the short drama job—started with meeting someone.”