Japanese Man Earned $80K A Year From Renting Himself Out As A 'Do Nothing' Friend To Anyone Who Needed It
Shoji Morimoto explained that he gets a lot of business from people who just need a companion to do something simple with.
Tirachard Kumtanom | Shutterstock It can be hard to make friends in life, especially as an adult. With everyone having busy schedules, different life priorities, and a comfort level in their existing routines, forming meaningful connections feels impossible. However, a Japanese man named Shoji Morimoto may have solved that problem by creating a business where he could be someone's friend for as long as they needed him to.
After being fired from his job in 2018, Morimoto decided to embark on a new career path, one that would allow him to do absolutely nothing all of the time. And the best part? He was able to earn a living while helping others.
A man earned $80K a year by renting himself out as a 'do nothing' friend.
The one complaint that Morimoto heard from his supervisor after being fired was the fact that he wasn't able to take initiative at work and would simply do nothing while on the clock. It seems Morimoto really took that to heart. The 41-year-old decided to capitalize on his lazy energy.
He opened his rental service the same year and is known as the "do nothing" guy in Japan. His job is simple. He rents himself out as a friend. Requests can range anywhere from waiting for a marathon runner at the finish line to hopping on a video call with a client as he watches them redecorate their room. Once, Morimoto admitted that a client who could no longer attend a concert hired Morimoto to take her place instead.
In an excerpt from his memoir, "Rental Person Who Does Nothing," via Business Insider, Morimoto recounted a woman asking to watch her search for her husband on a dating site. "She screamed (like in her DM) every 10 minutes or so. At one stage, she made a mistake with an app, clicking 'Like' for a man she wanted to skip through. She stared up at the ceiling and looked very upset," Morimoto wrote. "I had a great afternoon tea and really enjoyed myself."
The man doesn't consider himself a therapist or someone who's hired to have meaningful conversations with people.
"I have been put in objectively difficult situations, such as standing in line under the blazing sun, standing for hours in the freezing cold, attending parties with only strangers, and standing alone on a stage in front of a large audience without doing anything," Morimoto told CNBC Make It. "However, no matter what misfortune I have experienced, I feel that it is something special that only happened because I do this job, so I can still cherish it."
Morimoto has received requests to be a listening ear for a client if they're having a bad day. However, conversations really aren't part of the deal. He simply offers the bare minimum advice and an occasional nod here or there as he listens attentively. But he makes it a point to never play therapist.
He told CNBC that he receives 1,000 requests per year, and lets his clients decide how much they want to pay him. He used to charge a flat rate of anywhere between 10,000 yen and 30,000 yen ($65 to $195) for two- or three-hour sessions and was able to earn around $80,000 a year. Now, he has a pay-as-you-wish model set up for his clients.
"I charge a voluntary fee, so I don’t know if it will be sustainable, but I’m having fun trying to see if it’s sustainable," Morimoto said, adding that his goal was not to make a living or support himself but to "simply live life and enjoy it."
The man admitted that this job has been great for his introverted personality.
Rizky Sabriansyah | Canva Pro
In his memoir, Marimoto explained that because he's simply doing nothing with clients, he never feels anxious about being extroverted or personable. "The client wants to do something, and I just go along. No deep commitment is expected and no personality required," he wrote. "It's funny that someone like Rental Person should be in demand. I suppose you could say my lack of individuality has become my 'product.'"
While it's unclear what the friendship dynamics look like in Japan, in America, an estimated 42% of people admitted they weren't as close to their friends as they would like. And fewer than half of adults said they were satisfied with the amount of time they had with friends.
It may seem odd for someone to offer little more than his presence, and that his service is sought after by so many people, but perhaps that's the point. In a time when people feel overwhelmed and struggle to be seen by others, or they're just too exhausted to put themselves in social situations, Morimoto's business is a reminder that someone being there, without any pressure, is more than enough.
"There are many different [favorite] moments in this job, such as when I receive an offer message, when I meet a client, when I accompany a client to an unknown place, when I just listen to a story, and I feel happy in every moment," Morimoto told CNBC. "There was nothing else I truly wanted to do."
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
