Muscles bulging, bodybuilder Takuya Usui settles a woman into her wheelchair at a Japanese care home, where jacked Gen Zers are helping to ease labor shortages in a struggling industry.
Gender stereotypes and poor pay have long discouraged young Japanese men from becoming caregivers, even as demand surges in a country with one of the world’s oldest populations.
However, Visionary, a firm based in the central city of Nagoya, has devised an unusual solution: enticing male bodybuilders into the care sector with perks that include paid gym time and subsidies for protein shakes.
“I used to find nothing appealing about this industry,” Usui, a former fitness trainer, told AFP.
But then, “I was told I can actually put my muscles to use in this job, and I thought: ‘Well, let’s give it a try.’”
At a care home near Nagoya, bodybuilder Usui easily lifts 65-year-old Madoka Yamaguchi from bed, feeds her, and helps with daily tasks. “He’s so muscular, I don’t worry he might drop me,” Yamaguchi said, comforted by his strength.
Japan faces a severe caregiver shortage, with nearly four vacancies per applicant and a projected shortfall of 570,000 workers by 2040. Most caregivers are women over 40, as few men join the field.
Visionary CEO Yusuke Niwa, who once stood out as a rare young male carer, saw that making caregiving “cool” could attract recruits. He chose bodybuilders—“photogenic, hardworking, and inspiring”—as the ideal role models.
In 2018, a decade after founding Visionary, CEO Niwa launched the “Macho Caregivers” campaign to remove the stigma around care work. Before that, the firm barely hired a carer a year, but applications surged after the campaign, attracting many young men.
Visionary hired 168 people in fiscal 2024 and expects sales to hit 2.2 billion yen ($14.4 million) by March 2026, about 10 times higher than before 2018. Most recruits are fitness enthusiasts, with bodybuilders getting perks like two hours of paid weight training daily.
Among them is 27-year-old ex-serviceman Hokuto Tatsumi, who said discipline from bodybuilding helps in caregiving.
Niwa said Japan’s care industry must adapt, as about 100,000 people quit jobs yearly to care for family members, with 300,000 more expected to juggle work and caregiving by 2030.
Over the past two years, wheelchair user Yamaguchi and elite bodybuilder Usui have formed a friendship that highlights the heart of the job. “I first joined to build muscle,” Usui said, “but I learned there’s more to caregiving than meets the eye.” AFP
