How many of us have wished that we get paid for doing nothing and maybe become rich miraculously. Well, there’s a man who has made it happen. Yes, for real!
Named Shoji Morimoto, the man from Japan does no labor to earn money and that is his actual job, to do nothing.
And so Morimoto loves his job, as he doesn’t have to try very hard at it. That, in fact, is exactly what makes him great at it.
The 38-year-old offers his services as “rent-a-man.” For 10,000 yen (Dhs349) — plus expenses for travels and meals — anyone can rent him. Although he originally started out by offering his services for free, Morimoto now charges to reduce the volume of requests and discourage time-wasters.
“I lend myself out to do nothing, which means I don’t make any special effort. I don’t initiate conversation. I reply to chitchat, but that’s it,” he told a media outlet.
“I lend myself out to do nothing, which means I don’t make any special effort. I don’t initiate conversation. I reply to chitchat, but that’s it,” he told a media outlet.
The crazy thing is people actually pay this man for joining them in activities ranging from the mundane, like having a meal, to the extreme, like listening to a murder confession.
It all started in 2018 when Morimoto was unemployed. He got this unique idea and opened a Twitter account called “Do Nothing Rent-a-Man” to advertise his services. In today’s date, he has more than 2,70,000 followers.
In less than three years Morimoto, a graduate in Physics who used to work as a writer and editor before he quit to “do nothing”, has published books about his career choice and even inspired a television drama called “Rental Nan mo Shinai Hito” or “Rent-a-Person Who Does Nothing”.
He told the media that he’s constantly amazed at the “huge variety of personalities, circumstances, and situations” of his clients.
“Some people are lonesome. Some feel it’s a shame to go somewhere (interesting) alone — they want someone to share their impressions with,” he said.
Every day, he books up to three gigs a day and has completed more than 3,000 so far. This includes sharing a coffee in silence, listening to a busker, sharing cake with someone on their birthday, accompanying people to restaurants and shops, and joining a client on a swing set.
“I’m not a friend or an acquaintance. I’m free of the bothersome things that accompany relationships but can ease people’s sense of loneliness,” the one-of-a-kind job holder said.