TOKYO: Shoji Morimoto has what some would see as a dream job.
He gets paid to do pretty much nothing.
The 38-year-old Tokyo resident charges ¥10,000 (US$71) per booking to accompany clients and simply exist as a companion.
“I essentially I lease myself out. My job is to be present wherever my clients want me to be and to take no specific action, ” Morimoto told Reuters.
He added that during the previous four years, he has handled roughly 4,000 sessions.
Morimoto, who has an average appearance and a lanky physique, has amassed close to a quarter of a million followers on Twitter, where he finds the majority of his customers.
One of them has hired him 270 times, and around a fifth of them are repeat clients.
His work required him to accompany a person who wanted to play on a see-saw in a park.
Additionally, he once waved and smiled through a train window at a stranger who requested a farewell.
Morimoto’s inaction does not imply that he will take any action. He has declined invitations to move a refrigerator and travel to Cambodia, and he refuses to comply with any requests that are sexual in nature.
Chida was hesitant to wear the Indian garment in public because she was afraid her friends would be embarrassed. She then sought company from Morimoto.
She explained, “With my friends, I feel like I have to keep them entertained, but with the rental-guy (Morimoto), I don’t feel like I have to be chatty.
Morimoto worked at a publishing company before discovering his true calling and was frequently criticized for “doing nothing”.
“I started wondering what might occur if I offered clients my capability to “do nothing,” he remarked.
Morimoto now relies solely on his companionship business to provide for his family, which include his wife and young child.
Although he refused to say how much money he makes, he claimed to visit one or two people every day. It was three or four every day prior to the pandemic.
Morimoto considered the peculiar nature of his job and seemed to doubt a society that rewards productivity and despises futility as he spent a Wednesday doing nothing of significance in Tokyo.
“People frequently assume that my “doing nothing” is worthwhile because it is beneficial to others. However, it’s fine to actually accomplish nothing. Nobody has to be valuable in a particular way,” added he.
