The Fate Of a Woman Who Has Been In The Water Trade For Many Years

"Brr, it's cold... Even with just the candlelight, it's still cold. But I've run out of hand warmers, what should I do?"

My name is Minako Takehara, I'm 66 years old, and it's been a year since I started receiving my pension.

I'm currently unemployed, so money is tight.

"It looks like I'll be in the red again this month... and I don't have much savings left..."

My pension is 50,000 JPY per month. 30,000 JPY goes towards rent, 10,000 JPY for water, electricity, and gas, and 20,000 JPY for food.

The rest goes to miscellaneous expenses and my phone bill, which is about 3,000 JPY.

I've been living off my savings because the pension alone is not enough, but now I have less than 200,000 JPY left...

I should have saved more.

If you pay into the National Pension for 40 years from the age of 20 to 60, you will receive the full amount, which is 795,000 JPY per year or about 66,250 JPY per month. If you are enrolled in Employees' Pension Insurance, an amount based on your annual income will be added on top of that. But there were times when I didn't pay into the pension because I was in the water trade... That's why my pension is so low... The only saving grace is that I was in a well-paying profession...

Yes, the old days were good. I never imagined I'd struggle with money like this.

I've been in the water trade since I graduated from university.

I started out at a girls bar.

But aside from wearing a bunny girl costume, it was just like working at a regular drinking establishment. I enjoyed chatting with the customers, and most of all, I loved drinking.

So, I thought it would be great if I could make my hobby my job, and that's how I got into the water trade.

Then, a few years later, I became a hostess at a cabaret club, which was even more lucrative.

At that time, I was making 400,000 to 500,000 JPY per month.

After gaining experience at the cabaret club, I went on to work as a hostess at a first-class club.

I had many customers there, and even in a slow month, I was making 600,000 JPY. In a good month, I could make up to 1 million JPY.

Then, in my mid-40s, I decided to open my own snack bar, but...

The bar didn't do very well, and I was often in the red.

Still, I built up a base of regular customers, and sales were slowly improving, but then a recession hit, and customers became scarce.

And eventually, I had to close the bar.

After that, I worked at a mature women's cabaret club through an introduction from an acquaintance.

I had some debt from closing the bar, and I wanted to pay it off.

Then, when I turned 60, I started feeling my body couldn't keep up with the work...

I would throw up whenever I drank, my back hurt, and I had to pee frequently.

(What am I going to do?)

Eventually, I no longer had the stamina to work until late at night, so I left the industry...

But that's when things got really tough.

At first, I lived in a place with 50,000 JPY rent, but when I could no longer afford that, I moved to the run-down apartment where I live now.

(These days, you don't find apartments with shared toilets...)

I lost my income and was forced to live a meager life.

Fortunately, I had some savings to fall back on, but even those are almost gone now.

The pension I'm relying on is a pittance. Well, it's my fault for not paying into it...

After all, until 1985, the National Pension was only for self-employed people. Then, at some point, it became the basic pension, and everyone had to join.

But even if you pay diligently, you only get about 60,000 JPY per month...

Until 1985, when I turned 28, the National Pension was a pension system for self-employed people. But with a law amendment, it became the basic pension.

Students and housewives who are supported by their spouses also became eligible to join the National Pension.

Of course, I paid into the pension when I was working.

But why did I have to pay into something when I didn't even know if I would receive any benefits in the future?

That's what I truly thought.

Basically, at places like cabaret clubs where you become a self-employed worker, social insurance is not deducted from your salary, so out of rebellion against the country, I refused to pay the National Pension.

Then, the color of the pension reminder notices I received from the government started to change.

At first, they were blue, but then they turned yellow...

When I consulted with my younger brother, Takeshi, he told me that this indicated a countdown to forced execution. Apparently, when the paper turns red, you get a final notice, and if you ignore that, they proceed with the forced execution.

In other words, if you leave it alone, your assets will be seized.

So, I was advised to apply for a National Pension exemption if I couldn't pay.

But I thought it would be better to pay, so reluctantly, I started paying into the pension.

However, the amount I receive is a mere 50,000 JPY per month...

Still, I paid for over 10 years and gained eligibility to receive benefits. If I had ignored my brother's advice and left the pension unpaid, my old age would have been even more dire.

But this month, I only have 2,000 JPY left...

It's two weeks until the next pension payment, but can I survive until then?

I decided to make do with what I have at home until the payment date.

But all I had was rice, a small amount of vegetables, dried wakame seaweed, and miso soup...

I have dashi stock, so I can probably make miso soup, but...

I'll just stir-fry the remaining vegetables and make do.

Since I'm not good at cooking, I'll have to settle for a simple meal.

(Sigh, I want to eat meat... If only I had saved more... If I had also contributed to the National Pension Fund, I might have been able to live a little more comfortably...)

The National Pension Fund is a two-tier insurance system for self-employed people, equivalent to the Employees' Pension Insurance.

By paying into this fund, self-employed people can receive additional pension benefits. But the issue is the cost...

With the National Pension Fund, you have to pay the entire amount yourself.

Unlike the Employees' Pension Insurance, you have to bear the full cost of the National Pension Fund, so if you want to receive the same amount of pension as someone who is enrolled in the Employees' Pension Insurance, you have to pay twice as much.

(That's too expensive, there's no way I can afford that...)

And the National Pension amount is already high and uniform...

I stopped using electricity at night.

I somehow managed to eat dinner by candlelight, but...

I can't fight off the cold.

I put a hand warmer on my back and got into bed early.

(Now that I think about it, I only have a few hand warmers left... I don't have money to buy more... I wonder if I can make it to the next pension payment date with this cold weather... I'm really worried...)

Pension Payment Date

Finally, the day of the pension payment arrived.

I received 100,000 JPY for two months, but there's no way I can live on this pittance...

Thinking about my savings shrinking again makes me depressed...

If only I had a job, things would be different...

One day, as I was thinking this...

I received a call on my phone from my younger brother.

"Sis, are you busy right now?"

"Takeshi, what's up?"

"It's about the family restaurant. One of the part-timers quit, and we're short-staffed. Can you come help out?"

"Huh? Me?"

My family runs a restaurant, which my younger brother Takeshi took over.

Due to the nature of my work in the water trade, I didn't get along with my parents and rarely returned home. Sadly, they both passed away three years ago.

I only knew that my brother and a part-timer were running the place...

But I turned down my brother's request.

That's because I hadn't worked at the restaurant since I was a child, and I didn't know how to operate the latest cash register, which seemed complicated.

"I'm sorry, Takeshi. If I help out, I'll just be a burden."

"I see... I thought you'd be fine, sis. Sorry."

One Month Later

About a month later...

(Ugh... I feel nauseous... I must have caught a cold.)

I have chills, and my head hurts.

It seems I've let a cold get worse.

I need to go to the hospital, but if I do, my savings will be gone...

Just then...

Ding-dong!

Someone was at my door.

"Is sis in?"

"Huh? Takeshi?"

It was my younger brother, Takeshi.

"What's wrong? You look unwell... Your face is pale."

"Yeah, I think I caught a cold."

"Then get some rest. I'll make you something to eat."

So, my brother opened the refrigerator but noticed it was empty.

"Sis, why is your fridge empty?"

"I ran out of money for this month..."

"Why didn't you consult me about your situation? This is your family home, too. You can come back here if you want."

"But that would be a burden on you, Takeshi."

"It's not a burden. It would actually help me if you came back and helped out at the restaurant."

"But I turned you down about that before, didn't I?"

"You've always been a pro at customer service, sis. You should be able to do restaurant work, too. Even when you were a child, you were good at taking orders from customers, remember?"

"Okay... I understand. I'll give it a try."

"That's the spirit! I'm counting on you!"

"I'm not confident, but I'll do my best."

After Returning Home

So, I decided to leave the run-down apartment and go back to my family home.

"Sis, can you take care of table number three?"

"Yes!"

"Also, can you take the order for table number one?"

"Got it!"

At first, I was confused, but I gradually got the hang of it.

And soon, I was able to communicate with the customers, too.

"Thank you for your continued patronage."

"You remembered me even though I only come occasionally."

"You've come so many times that I've memorized your face."

"Oh, the staff here have good memories. I should learn from them."

"Hehehe, when you're in customer service, you naturally remember your customers' faces."

"Hahaha!"

In this way, I became better at communicating with the customers...

"Phew, the lunch rush is finally over."

"It was busy today."

"Sis, since you started helping out, the service has improved, and we've been getting more customers. Thank you so much. It really makes a difference having a customer service pro."

"You're exaggerating, but I'm glad to be of help."

Even now, I still regret not preparing better for my retirement. But if I had done nothing, the situation wouldn't have improved, so I'm glad I helped my brother.

Who would have thought that my customer service skills would come in handy even in my old age... Maybe that's what makes life enjoyable.