A fifth of them, according to Shoji Morimoto, are repeat clients, including one who has used him 270 times. (Image via Twitter, @nirvvanaj)
Shoji Morimoto was constantly criticised for “Doing Nothing” while he was employed by a publishing house. The 38-year-old Tokyo resident now makes 10,000 yen (Rs 5,769) per hour by “doing nothing” after he began to ponder what would happen if he offered his skill as a service to customers.
In essence, Morimoto told Reuters, “I hire myself out. My duty is to be wherever my clients want me to be and to do nothing in particular.” He added that over the previous four years, he had handled about 4,000 sessions.
The Tokyo resident, who has an ordinary appearance and a lean physique, has roughly a quarter of a million followers on Twitter, where he finds the majority of his customers. A fifth of them, according to Morimoto, are repeat clients, including one who has used him 270 times.
His profession has already taken him to a park with someone who wanted to play on a see-saw and to a train station where he smiled and waved at a stranger through a train window who needed a send-off.
Morimoto won’t necessarily do anything for money by remaining silent, though. He has declined requests of a sexual nature as well as offers to move a refrigerator and travel to Cambodia.
Last week, while drinking tea, he sat across from a 27-year-old data analyst dressed in a sari.
Aruna Chida sought out Morimoto’s company because she wanted to wear the Indian outfit out in public but was concerned about her friends’ reactions.
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 now relies solely on his companionship business to provide for his wife and child. He told Reuters that he sees one or two clients per day, but he would not say how much money he makes. There were three or four a day before to the Covid epidemic.
“People frequently assume that because my “doing nothing” is beneficial, it is valuable (for others)… However, it’s OK to actually accomplish nothing.People do not have to be useful in any specific way,” he said.
