(日本語は英語の下にあります。)
ABC NEWS PRIME picked up the "rent-a-person who does nothing" story early this month, and articles about this person have taken off globally.
Actually, I also used his service. This is my personal analysis, but I think that in order to understand the significance/relevancy of the service he provides, you should learn about the Japanese sense of human relationships, which serves as the foundation of Japan's society.
We are educated not to bother people. We always live with the eyes of others in mind. We always separate the inside from the outside; we can be open with our relatives and friends, but we have to be careful because they could overly worry or become judgemental. Even when sharing your troubles or worries, it is often a smarter choice to not reveal the full truth unless it's a big deal.
On the contrary, you should be always neutral without exposing your real self to other people. Making everything vague as to not start a discussion and to get a safer response is better because you can avoid things becoming too negative. Some people look to social media as a form of escape; however, there is always the risk of being unexpectedly bashed.
Japanese virtues value the golden mean and remaining inconspicuous.
For a Japanese person who lives with such a difficult yet exquisite balance as a matter of course, having a person who does nothing, looking just like the Maitreya Bodhisattva, on your side, allows them to regain their confidence and do what they should do, which is to spend time in a way that they can face themselves properly. Thus concludes my analysis.
Links to the articles:
ABC NEWSでもレンタルなんもしない人が取り上げられたようなので…
実は、ぼくも利用させていただいたことがある。自分なりの分析だけど、このサービスの利用者の根底に、日本人独特の「人間関係の距離感」があると思う。ひとさまにご迷惑をかけることだけはしないようにと教わり、いつも他人の目を気にして生き、内と外を意識して、身内や友達といった心を許して良い仲間には、自分の「生」な本音部分を共有できるけど、共有することは過剰に心配やらお節介が始まるのでよほどのことでなければ言い出せず、逆にそれ以外の外の人には、自分をさらけ出すことなくいつも中立的な状態でネガティブにならないよう当たり障りのない応対をする。SNSの時代に、逃げ道を見つけたように見えた人も、SNSには意外なバッシングをされるリスクが常に潜んでいる。
中庸を重んじて、目立たないという日本人の持つ美徳。
そんな難しいバランスを当然のように携えて生きる日本人に、まるで弥勒菩薩のような風貌の、なんもしない人が横にいてくれることで、自分に自信が取り戻せ、自分のなすべきことができ、自分が自分ときちんと向き合える時間を過ごすことにつながっているのではないか、そう自分は分析する。