Japan Turns to Bodybuilders to Fill Caregiving Jobs Japan is in need of more caregivers, and one company has found an unexpected solution: bodybuilders. Around 100,000 people in Japan leave their jobs every year to care for family members, and another 300,000 will balance careers and caregiving by 2030, according to government data. Being a caregiver is not easy work. It often means lifting people, washing them and helping them move, and many care workers say it can be tiring for both the body and the mind. Still, the pay is low, and the hours are long. And in Japan, caregiving is often seen as a woman's job, which makes many young men stay away from the industry. Because of this, most care workers are women. In fact, women — mostly aged 40 or over — make up more than 70% of care workers, according to labor ministry data. Yusuke Niwa, 40, remembers when he started as a young male caregiver nearly 20 years ago. "I stood out a lot for being male and young," he told AFP. When he later became the CEO of a care company called Visionary, he wanted to change how people see care work, and make it more appealing to young men. The company offers free gym access and subsidies for protein shakes to its employees, and some roles even include two hours of paid gym time each day as a perk. Niwa says the idea has helped attract new workers to the caregiving industry, especially young men who might not have thought about caregiving before. At a care home near Nagoya, former fitness trainer Takuya Usui now uses his big arms to help residents eat, move and live more comfortably. For him, what began as a way to stay fit has become something deeper. "I've learned there's more to caregiving than meets the eye," he told AFP.