© 2026 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Thanks to you, WUSF is here — delivering fact-based news and stories that reflect our community.⁠ Your support powers everything we do.

For $85 Japan's 'Do-Nothing Guy' can substitute for a client

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Thirty-eight-year-old Shoji Morimoto of Tokyo is there for you - as in for $85, you can pay Morimoto to show up and stand there. He's waited at a finish line to cheer on a customer running a marathon. He's been hired to go to dinner with clients who don't want to eat alone. He even accompanied a client to their surgery consultation. Morimoto told The Washington Post he meets daily with clients. For a guy dubbed Japan's Do-Nothing Guy, he appears to be pretty busy showing up. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.