#NBUnique: Japanese man finds dream job by getting paid for "doing nothing"

After reading the headline, one might wonder if it is clickbait or if there is a different meaning to it but it is exactly what it is! Wondering what, let us dig into it.

 

 

Shoji Morimoto, a 38-year-old Japanese man known as "Rental-Do-Nothing-Man" has found a dream job by getting paid for "doing nothing". He offers an unusual service to his customers in Tokyo which in his own words, "do nothing." He charges 10,000 yen or 71$ per booking to accompany clients and simply exists as a companion. In addition to his cost, he also charges for transportation, and if the assignment falls between mealtimes, clients will also be responsible for his food.

"Basically, I rent myself out. My job is to be wherever my clients want me to be and to do nothing in particular," he said. He had handled some 4,000 sessions in the past four years since launching his "firm" on a Twitter page in 2018 to give his service, primarily to dine with customers, attend events, and occasionally lend a sympathetic ear.

 

 

Currently, Morimoto has about a quarter of a million Twitter followers, and about 25% of his clients are repeat business, including one woman who has used him 270 times.

 

 

There was an instance last week when Aruna Chida, a 27-year-old data analyst wanted to wear sari and go out in public but she was afraid that it might embarrass her friends. She booked a reservation with Morimoto. "With my friends, I feel I have to entertain them, but with the rental guy (Morimoto) I don't feel the need to be chatty," she said.

 

Prior to launching this "do nothing" firm. He used to work for a publishing company and was scolded for "doing nothing". So he started this firm. "I started wondering what would happen if I provided my ability to "do nothing" as a service to clients," he said.

 

This service is now Morimoto's sole source of income, with which he supports his wife and child. In a day, he sees about one or two clients a day. Before the pandemic, it was three or four a day.

One might feel what he does is easy or it is “the best job ever” etc but in reality, it’s can be a difficult job - to be there but be totally detached, not get affected emotionally, only respond neutrally, be like air basically.