His efforts paid off early this year when he announced on social media that he had finally saved 135 million yen (US$860,000) after 20 years and 10 months of working for the company.

However, his joy was short-lived, as he recently disclosed that his savings had shrunk dramatically due to the yen’s depreciation since the beginning of this year.

“If the yen keeps depreciating, I’ll never achieve financial freedom. What have I been working for these 21 years? It’s all meaningless, so tragic,” he said.