Dave & Chuck the Freak talk about a guy in Japan who rents himself out and does "nothing" with people who are looking for a companion.
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00:00Here's an odd story.
00:04There's a dude in Tokyo who has found a way to get paid to do nothing.
00:10I like this idea.
00:11He's a 38-year-old guy, and he's discovered people will pay him to do nothing.
00:18He's a do-nothing rent-a-man.
00:21Why are people paying for his time?
00:24Well, here's the story from CBS News.
00:27Take a listen.
00:27Most days, Shoji Morimoto has appointments with a steady stream of clients.
00:34His service is as popular as it is peculiar.
00:38He bills himself the do-nothing rent-a-man.
00:41I lend myself out to do nothing, which means I don't make any special effort, he said.
00:47Eating, drinking, or simple chit-chat, that's about it.
00:51And that's enough for this customer who requested anonymity.
00:55For his mostly female fans, rent-a-man offers a safe space.
01:00No judgment, no strings, and on request, no talking.
01:03In Japan, women tend to worry about what other people think, about not being a burden, she said.
01:11It's exhausting.
01:12This kind of escape is important.
01:16Rent-a-man has struck a chord in this workaholic and conformist country.
01:20He's collected almost a quarter of a million followers on Twitter.
01:23In his pre-slacker days, Morimoto bounced aimlessly from one job to another.
01:29Out of desperation and on a lark, he decided to rent himself out, charging only for food and car fare.
01:37Thousands of encounters later, rent-a-man's experiences have earned him royalties from four books,
01:44including a manga comic about joining clients at museums and Disneyland or providing moral support for a divorcing spouse.
01:53His signature blue cap and backpack and his inexplicable success inspired a semi-fictional TV series last year.
02:01I have plenty of critics, he said.
02:05They say, get a job, but I don't feel the need to answer to anyone.
02:09Strange place.
02:10It is.
02:11So the women feel a weird pressure when they're by themselves or whatever?
02:14I guess.
02:15So it makes it look better if they're with a guy.
02:18I guess.
02:19I don't know.
02:19They say he's a do-nothing man, but isn't he just like a male escort without the sex?
02:23That's what it seems like.
02:24Yeah.
02:24I mean, his idea of doing nothing is so much more than my idea of doing nothing.
02:29Like, he's actually going to places.
02:32Right.
02:33Like, if you want to do nothing, do nothing.
02:36Like, I would just go to your place and sit on your couch and do nothing.
02:41They want him to eat and stuff.
02:43They want to be seen with a man.
02:44That's something.
02:45I'd be like, oh, sorry, I can't do that.
02:47He's walking.
02:48That's something.
02:50Come on.
02:50I'm not doing that.
02:52It's so nuts over there.
02:53It's a crazy life.
02:59You know?
02:59It's weird that he became some kind of cultural icon.
03:02Right.
03:02He's got his own TV series and comic book.
03:03He's like a comic book.
03:04He's like a TV show, dude.
03:06And he's not making money.
03:08Like, he's just like they basically pay for his meal and drinks.
03:11Yeah.
03:11He shows up in movies like Larry King.
03:14Yeah.
03:15Like, imagine you didn't realize it, but this guy has been in some stuff.
03:21You know?
03:21You're like, oh, man.
03:22But how does he pay his billy?
03:23That's what I was just about to ask.
03:26I don't know.
03:26How does he survive?
03:27They pay him.
03:28No, but they only pay for his meal or his drinks.
03:30Well, he said that's how it started.
03:32You think they have to pay him now, right?
03:33I think they must pay him now.
03:34Yeah.
03:35I think I thought he got paid for the service of being there.
03:37They only paid for, look, nothing more than the cost of car fare and if needed, meals.
03:44Yeah.
03:45But they say that was at the beginning when he first started.
03:47I feel like now that, well, he also, he sold a TV show.
03:51Thousands of curious encounters later, his experiences have earned him a living.
03:54He's written four books, including a comic, about joining clients for a few hours and even providing moral support.
03:59It's just so strange to be with, like, hanging around this guy, like, with you everywhere.
04:04I also feel like the way that he took his photos, he almost looks like a BTS type guy.
04:11And when you see him in real life, it's like he's not, he's just, he's just a normal guy.
04:18But I think in his advertising, like, these girls are like, whoa, he's, like, a hot guy.
04:24They're expecting a good-looking dude and he shows up he's just an average guy.
04:26Yeah, and I think he's just an average guy.
04:27He seems real boring.
04:29Incredibly boring.
04:29Wow.
04:30Personality.
04:30Someone said, while his clientele skews female, some of the stories are from men.
04:37There was a young man stuck in a soul-killing job who asked Rent-A-Man to meet him on the swings to briefly relive the joy of being alive.
04:45If I ever hire a man to swing me.
04:47That's a different kind of depression, isn't it?
04:49Yeah.
04:50Wow.
04:52I'm so sad.
04:53I just want to go swing.
04:55Hey, man.
04:56Why don't we head to the swing?
04:57Yeah, I'm going to do that move where I swing you and run underneath you.
05:02Yeah, do that.
05:03I'll get scared, like, I'm going to flip all the way over there.
05:05Well, I know.
05:07Did you hear?
05:08Things must be really bad for Chuck.
05:10He hired a man to swing with him.
05:11He's pushing him on the swing.
05:14Yeah, when you would, yeah, did you hear Chuck's a swinger?
05:18Oh, really?
05:19No, like, legitimate swing.
05:21Like, he goes on a swing and a man pushes him.
05:23He's a swinger.
05:24Another unforgettable client was a lonely young man who asked to share a home-cooked meal
05:30and an unbearable secret.
05:33What?
05:34His mother had raised him to a life of crime and had been sent to a reformatory for his
05:39role in a robbery that left a woman dead.
05:42And yet, the man told Mr. Rental he still pined for the mother who had ruined his life.
05:49Oh, my God.
05:51What a terrible job this guy has.
05:53If that happened at all, or if he's just selling books.
05:58He writes a book every month, it seems like.
06:01He's got four books.
06:02That's true.
06:02Maybe he's making it all up.
06:04He needs to have something.
06:07Plus, he sold it as a TV show, which is nuts.
06:11I feel like there are crazy stories over there.
06:13Oh, I'm sure.
06:14I'm sure.
06:15I'm sure he's making it all up.
06:16I'm sure he's making it all up.
06:16I'm sure he's making it all up.
06:17I'm sure he's making it all up.
06:17I'm sure he's making it all up.
06:18I'm sure he's making it all up.
06:18I'm sure he's making it all up.
06:19I'm sure he's making it all up.
06:19I'm sure he's making it all up.