Tokyo: Kiyokazu Ozawa, 36, usually wakes up at 2am and sits down in front of his computer to begin work as a website designer. At 7am, he leaves for his family’s vineyard. Four years ago, Ozawa moved from Tokyo to his hometown of Minami-Alps, Yamanashi Prefecture, to take over his parents’ farm.

He initially sought a job at an internet-related company that would give him time to also work in his family’s vineyard, but he was unable to find one. He then decided to work as a freelancer, doing jobs via the crowdsourcing service operator Lancers, based in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.

This arrangement allows him to decide his workload depending on how busy he is in the grape fields. “Having two jobs gives me peace of mind in case one of them doesn’t go well,” Ozawa said. “It also lets me think more flexibly.”

Crowdsourcing allows companies and others to outsource work to individuals. The number of people using the system is on the rise, as they can receive orders online and do the work from anywhere. Some people use the system to make their dream of living overseas come true.

In 2012, Kiyotaka Fuji of Fukuoka, now 32, took advantage of crowdsourcing to go to Hawaii, where he lived for a year. “My next dream is to make a grand tour of Hokkaido while working (online),” he said.

New lifestyles made possible in the age of an internet society are breaking fixed concepts of occupations. “Hi, this is Masuo TV,” said a 25-year-old man who goes by the name of “Masuo” in the internet world.

A Niigata native, he posts original video footage on YouTube every day to introduce such activities as trying to cook an unusual dish or carrying out a science experiment at home. He sometimes receives requests from businesses to introduce their products.

His pay depends on how many times his videos are viewed, and, with about 400,000 followers, he makes a living only from his videos. “Maybe the reason I have a large following is that I make videos about things that ordinary people find interesting,” he said. “I’m happy I can make a living by doing things I like.”

People like Masuo are dubbed ‘YouTubers’. Kazuki Kamada, the head of ‘uuum’, a production company for YouTubers, said: “Some of them have a greater ability to disseminate information and influence people than TV personalities. I believe that this will someday be recognised as a type of occupation.”

Michio Nakamura got divorced four years ago and became a single father with two sons. He kept working from early morning until late at night at his workplace in Osaka.

He hardly ever had time to see his sons, and after becoming worn out both physically and mentally, he found a job at NTT Com Cheo, a call Centre company.

Nakamura concluded an outsourcing contract with the company, and then began doing work such as telephone counselling at home and visiting other homes in his neighbourhood. The new style of work completely changed his life.

Now he can attend parents’ day at school and participate in PTA activities. “If it were not for this job, I don’t know what I would have done out of despair,” Nakamura said.

People live under different circumstances, and some cannot do the kind of work they want to. Giving people more choices in how they work will energise society.

— Washington Post