Swapping his dress shoes and business suit for flip-flops and swimming trunks, Shingo Takei starts the day by walking to the beach to go stand-up paddleboarding.

Instead of commuting to the office, the co-founder of a human resources startup returns home for breakfast and spends the rest of the morning tending the farm, chopping firewood and repairing his spacious two-story house before sitting down for lunch. He opens his laptop in the afternoon for online meetings and to tie up loose ends. After dinner, he takes a dip at a nearby hot spring and calls it a night.

"That's my typical day," the tanned 36-year-old said.