Free shipping on orders over $99
Rental Person Who Does Nothing

Rental Person Who Does Nothing 1

A Memoir

by Shoji Morimoto
Paperback
Publication Date: 11/07/2023
4/5 Rating 1 Review

Share This Book:

15%
OFF
RRP  $29.99

RRP means 'Recommended Retail Price' and is the price our supplier recommends to retailers that the product be offered for sale. It does not necessarily mean the product has been offered or sold at the RRP by us or anyone else.

$25.75
or 4 easy payments of $6.44 with
afterpay

Today, I’m starting a ‘rent a person who does nothing‘ service . . . Except for very simple conversation, I’m afraid I can do nothing.

Shoji Morimoto was constantly being told that he was a ‘do-nothing’ because he lacked initiative. Dispirited and unemployed, it occurred to him that if he was so good at doing nothing, perhaps he could turn it into a business. And with one tweet, he began his business of renting himself out . . . to do nothing.

Morimoto, aka Rental Person, provides a fascinating service to the lonely and socially anxious. Sitting with a client undergoing surgery, accompanying a newly-divorced client to her favourite restaurant, visiting the site of a client’s suicide attempt are just a few of his thousands of true life adventures. He is dependable, non-judgmental and committed to remaining a stranger and the curious encounters he shares are revelatory about both Japanese society and human psychology.

In Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Morimoto chronicles his extraordinary experiences in his unique line of work and reflects on how we consider relationships, jobs and family in our search for meaningful connection and purpose in life.

ISBN:
9781035012817
9781035012817
Category:
Memoirs
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
11-07-2023
Publisher:
Pan Macmillan
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Pages:
160
Dimensions (mm):
215x134x15mm
Weight:
0.17kg
Shoji Morimoto

Shoji Morimoto was born in 1984. He began working as a rental person who does nothing in 2018 and has since been hired by more than 4,000 people.

He's been profiled by many media outlets worldwide and has written several books including Rental Person Who Does Nothing, which inspired a Japanese tv series. Morimoto lives in Japan with his wife and son.

This title is in stock with our Australian supplier and should arrive at our Sydney warehouse within 1 - 2 weeks of you placing an order.

Once received into our warehouse we will despatch it to you with a Shipping Notification which includes online tracking.

Please check the estimated delivery times below for your region, for after your order is despatched from our warehouse:

ACT Metro: 2 working days
NSW Metro: 2 working days
NSW Rural: 2-3 working days
NSW Remote: 2-5 working days
NT Metro: 3-6 working days
NT Remote: 4-10 working days
QLD Metro: 2-4 working days
QLD Rural: 2-5 working days
QLD Remote: 2-7 working days
SA Metro: 2-5 working days
SA Rural: 3-6 working days
SA Remote: 3-7 working days
TAS Metro: 3-6 working days
TAS Rural: 3-6 working days
VIC Metro: 2-3 working days
VIC Rural: 2-4 working days
VIC Remote: 2-5 working days
WA Metro: 3-6 working days
WA Rural: 4-8 working days
WA Remote: 4-12 working days

Reviews

4.0

Based on 1 review

5 Star
(0)
4 Star
(1)
3 Star
(0)
2 Star
(0)
1 Star
(0)

1 Review

The novelty was what drew me to this book. I wondered what a rental person would even do and had fun imagining what I would hire someone to do if I had the opportunity. The possibilities made this one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

Although I enjoy lazy days as much as the next person, I don’t understand “a wish to live without doing anything”. My interest in reading about people who see the world differently to me was a draw card as well.

I thought I’d caught Morimoto out because surely writing a book constitutes doing something. Although a part of me wishes he had written this book with the hope of gaining more insight into his life, I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read that he provided simple answers to a writer and editor, who then wrote his book for him. Doing nothing? Goal achieved.

When I read about what people requested from Rental Person, I was struck by the simplicity of a lot of the requests: waving goodbye to them at a train station, helping them finish a drink, saving a place for them in a busy park.

I began to marvel at the bravery of people sending a request to a stranger, asking them to be there with them as they did something that was important to them.

Every so often, I’d be struck by a gem like this:

“Depth of discussion and depth of relationship don’t always go hand in hand.”

Then I’d be puzzled by the detached vibe that came across elsewhere.

“People might think I’m cold for saying this, but when I’m listening to clients, I’m thinking, That would be interesting to tweet, or Good, that’s great material. Maybe I’m less emotional than other people, or perhaps I’m simply not affected by other people’s emotions. I think this makes me suited to being Rental Person. I don’t get too involved in the client’s world.”

“I’m not naturally responsive. It doesn’t really matter to me what people do or say.”

I’m not sure why this was the case but I had assumed Rental Person was a single man in his early 20’s. I was surprised to learn that when this book was written, he was 35 and had a wife and child.

As someone who doesn’t understand small talk, I wondered why people would hire someone who only provides simple responses. It wasn’t until I made it to the section about how reciprocity works in Japanese society that I finally understood why it would be so valuable (no pun intended) to spend time with someone with no expectations attached to the interaction. I get it now.

“I couldn’t do anything, so I started ‘doing nothing’.”

Content warnings are included on my blog.

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan Australia for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.

Recommended
Contains Spoilers No
Report Abuse