Meet Japan’s ‘do nothing’ guy: Once fired for being idle, now gets paid millions for it | Trending

Jan 09, 2025 05:56 PM Once fired for being unproductive, Morimoto now makes ₹69 lakh as Japan’s rental ‘do nothing’ guy, A Japanese man who was once fired for “not doing anything” of value now makes ₹69 lakh for doing nothing. 41-year-old Morimoto, popularly known as the rental “do nothing” guy in Japan, now loans himself out to strangers who just want someone to keep them company in a non-romantic way. Morimoto said people hire him as they find his presence comforting when they have trouble socialising in some settings(Representational) While it may sound bizarre, the requests can range from just being on a video call to keep someone company while the client cleans her room to waiting for a marathon runner at the finishing line. Talking to CNBC Make It, Morimoto revealed that once a client who could not attend a concert with a friend asked him to take her place. He is so popular he receives about 1,000 requests to “do nothing” every year but lets his clients to decide how much to pay him. (Also read: Massive motorcycle-sized bluefin tuna fetches ₹11 crore at Japanese auction) Paid to do nothingHowever, his services don’t come cheap. He charged anywhere from ₹5,400 and ₹16,200 for two to three hours but he later introduced the pay-as-you-wish model. “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 to “simply live life and enjoy it”. Morimoto said people hire him as they find his presence comforting when they have trouble socialising in some settings. He does not even have to actively engage with them. ‘Nothing else I want to do’He said a woman once paid him to sit in a corner of a cafe, in her line of vision, while she told her husband she was going to divorce her. “There are many different [favourite] 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 len to a story, and I feel happy in every moment. There was nothing else I truly wanted to do,” he said. (Also read: Japanese tour claims ‘loud’ music in India made her cry: ‘Hard to be here’) Get Latest Updates on… See more News / Trending / Meet Japan’s ‘do nothing’ guy: Once fired for being idle, now gets paid millions for it