By Shoji Morimoto
Paperback, £10.99
In this written account, Tokyoite Shoji Morimoto tells the story of why and how he stopped freelancing and started offering his services – for free! – as a “rental person who does nothing” on Twitter.
Don’t let the quirky premise put you off. I spent my entire time reading it pausing regularly to think about the many topics explored in the book. After I finished, I had both written and recorded notes about it and I decided to place the book in our philosophy section, as it is so full of fascinating reflections and contradictions.
In terms of his reasons for starting the project, I regretted that Morimoto never seemed to fully explore the universality of his situation as someone who wanted to extract themselves from the work culture and who struggled with applying to new jobs and find meaning in both the corporate and freelance world. However, I greatly appreciated his curiosity for other people, their idiosyncrasies, their worries, and the minutiae of their daily lives.
Yet really, the most thought-provoking moments of the book come from the anecdotes he provides about the “cases” he has worked. At first, I thought this might be a book about our deep need for (re)building communities (why would people need to rent someone to go to a concert or a coffee shop with them?) and also an argument in favour of universal basic income (this man does not ask for money other than compensation for his travels, but he does contribute to society – shouldn’t he get an income?). Rental person seems like a quirky idea that can bring welcome reprieve to daily troubles.
However, when I heard about cases of people who hired him to do an activity together because it seemed cheaper and less time-consuming than building a friendship over time, I wondered if this was just individualism pushed to its limit. And perhaps rental person is only a temporary solution to much bigger problems. Perhaps what these clients really need is, as already mentioned, community, or in some cases, therapy. Are some of those clients simply renting their way out of facing negative feelings of shame (about eating out on their own) or guilt (about refusing a wedding invitation) or simply bad habits (such as getting up too late every day to go to class)? Or is this me psychoanalysing people I do not actually know?
As you can see, I had many questions and no answers – the cases just made me change my mind each time. The book had me thinking about the definition of friendship and what binds us together as humans and what the foundations of our society is, but also about the future of huge cities like Tokyo (and London?). This short, easy read is surprisingly much fuller than it seems, for anyone in a reflective mood.
Review by Leti