What would you say if we told you that a 38-year-old Tokyo resident has apparently cracked the code on life and is currently living your dream life by being paid to do nothing?
According to Reuters, Shoji Morimoto has the job everyone aspires to have as a paid companion to people who want him to do nothing.
Morimoto charges his clients 10,000 yen (INR 5,600 approx) per booking to accompany them and basically exist as their companion for the day.
“Basically, I rent myself out. My job is to be wherever my clients want me to be and to do nothing in particular,” said Morimoto to Reuters, adding that he had handled some 4,000 sessions in the past four years.
He finds most of his clients on Twitter, on which he has about 250k followers, and often has repeat customers. Reportedly, one of his regulars has hired him 270 times.
Over the years, Morimoto has accompanied people to parks to ride see saws and waved goodbye to customers from the station’s platform, when they didn’t have anyone to see them off.
He doesn’t accept client requests indiscriminately, contrary to what one might expect. He has turned down offers to move a refrigerator and to go to Cambodia. He also rejects any requests of a sexual nature.
Reuters reports that one of Morimoto’s most recent client was Aruna Chida, a 27-year-old data analyst who hired him to sit opposite her at a cafe when she wanted to go out wearing a traditional sari. Chida admitted she felt embarrassed to be dressed in the Indian outfit with all her friends so she called on the services of 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.
Before embarking on a career most people would envy him for, Morimoto worked at a publishing company where he was often told off for doing nothing. One day, he just decided to turn his ability to do nothing into a paid service for his clients. Now he earns enough from this job to support his wife and child.
But does it ever bother him to do nothing in life?
Morimoto acknowledges that we live in a society that values productivity and derides uselessness but feels that ‘usefulness’ is subjective.
“People tend to think that my ‘doing nothing’ is valuable because it is useful (for others) … But it’s fine to really not do anything. People do not have to be useful in any specific way,” he said.
Are you re-evaluating your life goals? Join the club!
