I remember reading about Shoji Morimoto when he made the news and was written about in 2021 and 2022. He rents himself out "to do nothing". In all his interviews, he clarifies that "What I mean by doing nothing is, I eat and drink with my clients, and I answer their simple questions with simple answers."
In September 2022, The Japan Times wrote about him,
The 38-year-old Tokyo resident charges ¥10,000 ($71) per booking to accompany clients and simply exist as a companion.
"Basically, I rent myself out. My job is to be wherever my clients want me to be and to do nothing in particular," Morimoto said, adding that he had handled some 4,000 sessions in the past four years.
With a lanky build and average looks, Morimoto now boasts nearly a quarter of a million followers on Twitter, where he finds most of his clients. Roughly a quarter of them are repeat customers, including one who has hired him 270 times.
His job has taken him to a park with a person who wanted to play on a seesaw. He has also beamed and waved through a train window at a complete stranger who wanted a send-off.
Doing nothing doesn't mean Morimoto will do anything. He has turned down offers to move a fridge and go to Cambodia, and doesn't take any requests of a sexual nature.
So we have ascertained that this is a real person. He admits that he's not a good communicator, doesn't like to be talked down to and doesn't respond well to certain forms of erm motivational speeches or expectations. He's well-educated and has held down jobs. But for various reasons, he can't quite keep the jobs. I'm not delving into that. To each his own, and to each, his comfort. He is still renting himself out in 2023. It isn't too bad a stint eh.
38-year-old Shoji Morimoto started being a Rental Person in June 2018. He still takes requests via Twitter X. He rents out himself and his time to random strangers. These people seem to usually be alone or don't want to trouble their friends. But they want company to do certain things, like have a meal or have drink in places that their friends don't normally go. They put in these requests to the author. considers them and decides which tasks/errands to accept. "If concert requests stopped coming completely and then one suddenly came up again, I might accept it; the idea might seem fresh again. So the line between what I accept and what I turn down is a vague one."
He has also left an appointment halfway because it involved an event with a speaker whose words he didn't like, and he felt the people pushy and event, repressive. If I pay a Rental Person to 'accompany' me, I honestly will be better off with my own company. wtf.
I've turned down a number of requests to go to pop concerts too. I don't know much about music, and most of the concerts I've been asked to go along to have been by artists I've never heard of. At first, I thought it might be fun but it wasn't really — if you're not interested, you're not interested. The range of artists was impressive, but once I was used to that, I got a bit bored and lost my enthusiasm for going at all. I might feel differently if the concert is by a famous artist that even I've heard of, like Morning Musume or Paul McCartney. So again, it's case by case.
This book isn't so much of a memoir, but rather a compilation of the requests that he gets. I don't know if I would even classify it as a memoir. While it's interesting to see how this one human lives, I want to smack him and ask him to get a life. Okay fine, he is earning his own keep while doing things he wants to do, we should butt out. But doesn't he have friends? Or this is his way of getting to know people without real intimacy (of the brain) and without needing to sustain relationships? He has a wife and a child. So if this is his online persona, then that's great. Something less effortful than being an influencer keeping up with trends.
The book is pretty much a compilation of tweets (and I would go through it when Twitter was still awesome). Japan is a happy and heavy user of Twitter X. He shares these tweets to tell us about the requests he gets. Most are pretty average and normal and some are odd, but nothing very out there. Read of them what you will. It's a peek into the psyche of Tokyo dwellers and contemporary Japanese society.
Some people may be doubtful that writing a book can be classified as 'doing nothing', but, as I said in the Foreword, the actual work is being done by someone else. All I have provided are 'simple responses' to questions. When I say 'simple', I mean they're based on what I already know. I haven't done any special preparation for the book; it's just a series of those simple responses. From that point of view, I think that, for me, it really is 'doing nothing'.
If you have to read one chapter, read Chapter 4 'not being tied down by money'. That's very telling of Japanese society and the demands on full-time employees and part-time staff. Employees are expected to even socialize with their colleagues and bosses after work hours. It's madness. That sort of social pressure would cause anyone to crumble. Actually, read his tweets in Japanese. That's less stilted than this translated book is, and provides a much more fun experience.
Shoji Morimoto's choice of a 'do-nothing job', the people he meets, and what he has been told also breaches a lot of confidentiality lines and privacy issues. He doesn't actually charge a fee for his time, although he does ask to be reimbursed for transport, and he gets plenty of gifts and cash vouchers. I can't imagine what qualifications or insurance he could have to guard against potential lawsuits. Oh man. I can imagine what the writing on his headstone on his grave or an obituary will read.
Perhaps Rental Person sits somewhere along the line between 'friend' and 'stranger'. Where exactly Rental Person will be in any particular case depends on what the client wants. It's up to them. I don't do anything myself. I don't trespass on their territory.
.....................
Though I don't charge money, I do feel I get a kind of remuneration. For one thing, as I said before, there's the passive enjoyment and stimulation of hearing about people's situations. And when something interesting happens during a request, I think, Great! I can write about that on Twitter. I suppose this is my biggest reward. If I was paid money, I think it would be awkward to tweet about requests. Even if the client hadn't asked me not to tweet, I'd feel constrained. It wouldn't be right to make fun of people who'd paid me. As it is, I feel I can write what I want and don't hesitate to use a bit of dry humour. I didn't plan it that way, but that's how things have turned out.
No comments:
Post a Comment