This is such an interesting concept and I enjoyed the variety of requests and stuff but... it was way too repetitive. He just has a few main ideas and repeats them over and over again. Sometimes there will be like three or four paragraphs in a row saying almost the exact same thing. It feels like they were just trying to reach a word count. The editor/writer clearly didn't have enough to work with from his answers. That being SAID I did like him and what he had to say was interesting but honestly this could have been half as long. ( )

audio nonfiction/memoir (~3.5 hours), translated from Japanese

less of a memoir and more of a sociological experiment: a freelance writer who is tired of the stresses of gainful employment decides instead to live (with wife and young child on the way) off of savings, and make a point of not putting work into anything (researching, analyzing), offering his time up to strangers who more or less just need another body to be in the room. He doesn't charge for his time (reasoning that it's not worth being paid if it means that people will start to have expectations of him), only travel expenses and food, as applicable to the situation.

There's a lot to empathize with here--feelings of obligation to keep working at a job you dislike, frustrations in finding suitable work, not wanting to go to a restaurant/concert/event alone, wanting to talk to someone while not wanting to talk to any friends, the complexities of building and maintaining friendships--I can imagine a lot of discussions happening in book clubs. At the same time, Morimoto has taken pains (or rather, not taken pains?) to stick to his rule of not working, even to put out this international bestseller of a book, which is comprised solely of tweet conversations and emails, rather than any new writing that would require applying his research/writing/editing skills as such. Even so, there is a lot contained in here that readers are left to discover for themselves. ( )

Assuming this was a novel because of its unusual premise, I was startled to realize that it's actually a memoir based on the author's experience, in collaboration with his editors. Seeming unmoored and unnecessary at his former job, Morimoto decided to volunteer for people to "rent" him to serve them as requested for short term tasks. Sometimes purely logistical, but sometimes emotional or social, his encounters and the nature of the requests make for interesting reading, both for their impact on the author and also for what they indicate about the clients. There is an interesting dichotomy between the somewhat anonymous urban setting populated by lost souls and the sense of the author as a generous member of the community at large. ( )

“I leaped blindly into this do-nothing service. I didn’t know what would happen, but I had a feeling it might lead to interesting things, and that’s the way it’s turned out.”

After regularly being accused of ‘doing nothing’ by a bullying boss, Shoji Morimoto quit his job in 2018 and, inspired by the idea that people have a value even if they do nothing raised by a health counsellor, launched Do-Nothing Rental via Twitter, becoming ‘a person who does nothing’ for hire. To his surprise demand for his services grew quickly and this short, quirky memoir shares his experience.

People request Morimoto’s services for a wide range of activities, and he includes dozens of examples of these in the book. He has variously been asked to serve as a placeholder in a line, sit with someone as they work, wave goodbye to someone at a train station, accompany clients to restaurants and events, and send scripted texts of support. The requests are fascinating in their simplicity, but from my perspective also often poignant.

In many instances Morimoto’s clients seem to want undemanding company, or someone to listen uncritically, sometimes his presence serves as motivation for a task. As a do-nothing person, Morimoto generally restricts his interaction with his clients to the bare minimum required, such as eating and drinking and answering very simple questions. He makes no judgements, offers no advice, nor counsel.

The popularity of his service makes sense when you learn Japanese culture prizes the principle of reciprocity, and Morimoto has great empathy for the pressure it places on individuals. I found many of his insights on human connection, the determination of a person’s value, and the transactional nature of society, to be thought-provoking.

Choosing which requests for his services to accept based largely on practicality and his own interest, Morimoto originally didn’t charge a fee for his services, living off savings, though clients were expected to pay for his expenses such as transport and activity costs where applicable. The novelty of his offering quickly earned Morimoto hundreds of thousands of followers, and an avalanche of requests, but six years later, Morimoto’s career as Rental Person continues to thrive, and in order to support his wife and child, he now charges a small booking fee.

Deftly translated from Japanese to English by Don Knotting, I found Rental Person Who Does Nothing to be a short but interesting and entertaining read. ( )

Rental Person Who Does Nothing is a quirky memoir translated from the Japanese about a man whose job it is to do…nothing. Shoji Morimoto used to have a traditional job, but his boss bullied him, essentially intimating that he was a ‘good for nothing’. He quit, did freelance writing but then came up with an idea – surely there is a role in the market for someone to be employed to do nothing?

It’s not strictly do nothing, as Morimoto explains. It’s more a low energy but high emotional support job, but sometimes it’s very simple. His business started on Twitter (he’s still active as I write this) and requests were sent to him. These ranged from the very simple – asking him to send a text reminder at a certain time, or eating with someone in a restaurant so they don’t eat alone. It might be waving someone off on the train, or sending good wishes for upcoming exams. While his memoir contains many ‘do-nothing’ jobs, it’s also very philosophical, looking at why people are renting his services. Is it due to not wanting to be seen as alone, a way of combating loneliness or something unique to the Japanese culture? Morimoto shows deep insight into the human psyche and while not analysing his clients, he gently empathises with them and really puts himself in their shoes. A new café with no visitors when it opens? Very difficult on the owner, hence why Morimoto comes to have a coffee at opening time, then sees more people coming in.

Morimoto does a good job to convince the reader that he is a lazy, ‘do-nothing’ person, but really I think he’s the complete opposite. He’s kind, never belittling his clients’ requests and generous too (he only asks for expenses). The economics of his business are something I found fascinating (and wondered if it would work in the West). Morimoto only asks for expenses, but his clients will often send him a gift card of some sort to say thank you. Sometimes random strangers will offer too. He notes that his business is only because his wife has a good job, but I hope that his book and TV series in Japan help too.

Being a fan of Japan, I really enjoyed Morimoto’s story. It combines the quirks of ‘only in Japan’ with the kind of society/community-based thinking that is more common in Asia over the needs of the individual. The translation is very well done in capturing the need for Morimoto’s business, his rules for accepting or rejecting jobs and why it is successful.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

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