A Master Penny-Pincher Draws a Following in Japan Megumi Nakano offers daily tips on Instagram about how not to spend money. 

Half a radish is put to good use.

On a recent afternoon, Megumi Nakano signed copies of her book for some of her 117,000 Instagram followers, who oohed and aahed at seeing her in the flesh.

Ms. Nakano is no movie star or Olympic medalist. Her path to social-media fame came through champion-level penny-pinching.

With tips on how to use a leftover radish and what to buy at a dollar store, the 40-year-old mother of two has tapped into one of Japan’s enduring passions—to the chagrin of government officials who think the economy could get out its pandemic funk a lot faster if people would stop being so frugal.

Ms. Nakano says saving yen is a lot more rewarding.

“I feel like I’m more affluent at heart now than when I was spending more money and possessed more things,” she said. “It is an affluent frugality.”