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The Booming Japanese Rent-a-Friend Business (theatlantic.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report on The Atlantic which talks about a growing business in Japan wherein you can pay an actor to impersonate your relative, spouse, coworker, or any kind of acquaintance. The reporter has interviewed Ishii Yuichi, CEO of a Family Romance, a company that rents such actors. Yuichi believes that Family Romance, and other companies that provide a similar service can help people cope with unbearable absences or perceived deficiencies in their lives. In an increasingly isolated and entitled society, the chief executive officer predicts the exponential growth of his business and others like it, as a la carte human interaction becomes the new norm. An exchange between Yuichi and the reporter, from the story: Morin: When was your first success?
Yuichi: I played a father for a 12-year-old with a single mother. The girl was bullied because she didn't have a dad, so the mother rented me. I've acted as the girl's father ever since. I am the only real father that she knows.
Morin: And this is ongoing?
Yuichi: Yes, I've been seeing her for eight years. She just graduated high school.
Morin: Does she understand that you're not her real father?
Yuichi: No, the mother hasn't told her.
Morin: How do you think she would feel if she discovered the truth?
Yuichi: I think she would be shocked. If the client never reveals the truth, I must continue the role indefinitely. If the daughter gets married, I have to act as a father in that wedding, and then I have to be the grandfather. So, I always ask every client, "Are you prepared to sustain this lie?" It's the most significant problem our company has.
Yuichi: I played a father for a 12-year-old with a single mother. The girl was bullied because she didn't have a dad, so the mother rented me. I've acted as the girl's father ever since. I am the only real father that she knows.
Morin: And this is ongoing?
Yuichi: Yes, I've been seeing her for eight years. She just graduated high school.
Morin: Does she understand that you're not her real father?
Yuichi: No, the mother hasn't told her.
Morin: How do you think she would feel if she discovered the truth?
Yuichi: I think she would be shocked. If the client never reveals the truth, I must continue the role indefinitely. If the daughter gets married, I have to act as a father in that wedding, and then I have to be the grandfather. So, I always ask every client, "Are you prepared to sustain this lie?" It's the most significant problem our company has.
I am always amazed, impressed, disgusted, disbelieving, aghast, saddened, at the level of the Japanese culture of repressing emotions, guilt, refusing to speak things plainly, and bottling things up.
Leads to some great things, admittedly, but also sometimes very saddening!
The mere existence of such a business is a strong indication for the need of some society-wide social engineering and an improvement in mental health care.
is LIES!!!???
I'd pay to read good comments here.
it's always been a thing...
do they have Prostitution as part of this?
There is an excellent fiction book about this by Alejandro Casona: 'Los arboles mueren de pie' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Casona
When I saw the headline, I was going to come here and post a joke about the "world's oldest profession". But after reading the summary/article, I'm really saddened. Every family has skeletons in their closets, but this deception goes right to the core of who we are as humans.
"Just as there is nothing so unreal as reality TV, there is nothing as unsocial as social media." - Alistair Dabbs
In America we worship families like the Kardashians. How is that better?
Don't forget to upgrade your friend rental to include a dog on the side.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
Now imagine at he explains where he goes to work everyday: to a company that acts as substitute family. As lord Cypher once said: Jesus. What a mind-job.
If you can agree that faking a father isn't so nice, just imagine if they lied about the Earth!
Space is fake. Earth is flat. The eclipses prove it.
The Flat Earth Solar Eclipse: https://vimeo.com/230976895
Corona not shaped in a spherical configuration; orients toward Earth. Corona lines can be observed to move faster than the speed of light. Light of the corona can be observed on the back of the moon. Light of the chromosphere can be observed on the back of the moon. Light of protuberences can be observed on the back of the moon. Sun and Moon same size and near
The Flat Earth Lunar Eclipse: https://vimeo.com/92378881
Irregular shadow shape, progression. Shadow is black, then changes color to reddish: Shadows don't change color. Moon glow of uneclipsed portion increases as shadow becomes reddish, detail lost. Moon has no rotation(see Nikola Tesla): we always see the same face. Moon emits own light. Craters not from impacts: Too round.
No model of the lunar eclipse correctly captures it:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/10/06/why-does-the-moon-turn-red-during-a-lunar-eclipse/
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/scottsdale?iso=20140415
software:Stellarium 0.16.1 Next lunar eclipse: January 30, 2018 North America
I live in Japan for 2 years. Great place, but there are some odd goings on, such as renting friends. One of the more interesting things in Japanese culture is the way in which they conduct business deals: they are all done in the evening over drinks in bars. This is referred to as "mizu shobai", literally the water trade. One wanders around the bars in or near the business districts of any Japanese city of size and men in business suits (salaryman) are out in vast numbers doing their bit.
Japanese don't see the world the way westerners do, obviously. They tend to see things in terms of being in a team than alone. There is no "I", "me", "mine" much in Japanese culture. They embody the teamwork ethic very well. It's a plus and a downfall for obvious reasons.
Japanese food is outstanding, their snacks and goodies fantastic. Their cartoons and manga are the best. Their electronics are fantastic. You'll see things in Japan and then they'll turn up 5 years later everywhere else.
Japanese smoke everywhere. This was not a problem for me, a smoker.
Taxis are clean, efficient, and relatively inexpensive.
It's fun going down the seaport areas where there are long, winding dock roads. Young Japanese low-riders (bosozuku) will attend in great numbers with their tricked-out cars and motorcycles. It's an odd mix of girls and guys who all look to be extras in a Blade Runner-esque movie.
Japanese women are friendly, but not easy sexual targets like western women. They like a bit of courting. Prostitution and hard core (full nudity) pornography are highly illegal and will get anyone time in the "monkey house" (prison). And yes, they take it deadly seriously. This stuff does exist, but it's treated akin to illegal drugs in America--it's kept largely out of sight, and damn harder to acquire should you roll that way.
A DUI, if you drive, will end your life as you know it. You'll spend years in prison. Fighting with a Japanese citizen will result in the same.
While not as strict as Singapore, the Japanese penal system isn't something with which you want to be acquainted.
All in all , a great country to live in or visit. I'm looking forward to going back.
How long can these "lies" go on?
When the fake father/actor gets married, won't his wife/children insist he spends family time with them and not with his fake daughters?
If the mother dies in a car accident, does the will pay the fake father/actor to be there to comfort the daughter?
When the father/actor dies, is his daughter going to his funeral?
What if two customers exchange pictures of their fake fathers and discover they're fake-related?
What if the fake-father is dating a single mom with a kid at the customer's daughter's college?
EEEEK!!!!
Is it just me, or would renting your own friends/people to pretend to be part of your life make you feel worse? Then again, Iâ(TM)ve never understood prostitution either- how empty does your life have to be to pay for either lovers or friends?
But is it a tragedy, a comedy or both? The first movie about the subject will probably be a comedy. Then comes the tragedy. After that, the sci-fi version with androids, robots or mono-gendered blue persons with curvy bodies and hair-tentacles. I would watch that.
People in fake realities shouldn't throw stones. Your space is fake. Your Earth is flat.
...Just when I think we've reached the limits of how crazy fucked-up the Japanese can be, they show me I'm wrong.
Keep shining, you crazy Japanese.
-Styopa
Serious question, especially for the author of the parent comment, since he understand Japan so well: how is the service in TFA different from an escort service?
If you pay someone to be a father, for the life, that includes some serious commitment. Next to that, paying a woman to be your girlfriend for a night or a weekend pales to insignificance.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
Ours are euphemistically called escort services.
For years, Hollywood has been hiring friends and relatives to impersonate actors.
Where I live we have inflatable 'friends' for various purposes, not the least of which is to sit in the passenger seat while driving in the fast 'ride share' lane.
...omphaloskepsis often...
I remember reading that in the Gilded Age everybody who wasn't destitute had multiple servants because it was so cheap to them. Lots of folks looking for any work they can get their hands on.
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Interesting thing about the US is that the mother would be due child support from the actor. Someone doesnâ(TM)t have to be biological, married or even adopt the kid to be nailed with the judgement. If the court sees a father figure in the kids life, thatâ(TM)s all that is required (see: judgements against non-biological ex-boyfriends)
I wonder how much that 12-year old paid to rent a father, because, 12-year olds don't really have a lot of money.
I've always felt the Klingons would be a good model for a human society.
Rent-a-Friend a Dutch invention?
The dutch movie 'Rent-a-Friend' from the year 2000 already had the exact same premise.
Rent-A-Friend the movie
"He starts a company called Rent a Friend and rents himself out as a friend to those in need of one. The concept is so successful that he soon is running a veritable "friends empire". "
I'm no expert on Japanese culture, but the glimpses Westerners get to see are...quite interesting. Between this and robotic female companions going semi-mainstream, it seems like there may be a couple of social screws that need tightening. I wonder if selling human interactions, beyond the obvious oldest profession, will be a thing when people don't have manual labor to fall back on.
In my opinion, and it's just an opinion, this is what happens when you have a culture where high achievement is celebrated, but not everyone gets to participate fully. You're just expected to have an outward appearance of success, and I can imagine that can be hard for someone who really isn't meeting expectations. I've heard of this among Ivy League college students...they act like nothing fazes them even if they're struggling like mad to keep up with their peers. The ones who were the smartest kids in their high school get dropped into an environment where _everyone_ is either the smartest or most well-connected kid in their peer group.
I read about an interesting trait of Japanese society...that of lifetime employment. Apparently, large corporations only hire new graduates and if you miss out on it, you never get another chance because they do not hire experienced employees. Talk about having to keep up appearances...imagine not meshing with the crowd for whatever reason and ending up working in a convenience store the rest of your life even if you were an engineering student.
What happens when he has a scheduling conflict between two roles he has to play?
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Even though this is certainly an extreme example (at least for me, not sure in Japan), lack of attachment to others and fake appearances are surprisingly common in most of societies. Internet and the way in which things like "social" media have evolved is a good reflection of that reality. Lots of people are not interested in actually knowing others, but only in blindly following trends, getting temporary certainty via poor information about everyone, having a high number of likes, friends, references, showing that they are happy/sad/angry, etc. Similar ideas apply to the real-life routines of many people, who are so scared of really giving and getting something (and, consequently, potentially losing/being hurt) that prefer to be systematically involved in meaningless relationships with others.
Some people might consider me some kind of hermit since some time ago, a person not able to enjoy the small pleasures of life or others' companion. This isn't true. The reality is that I am only interested in getting involved in somehow meaningful relationships, but most of people are not. Should I join the big circus of hypocrisy, meaning-nothing conventions, playing-very-safe-and-as-instructed and lies to eventually find just one worthy person? No, thanks. I did that in the past and know where it ends: tolerating more lies, hypocrisy, in-case-of-doubt attacks, unreasonable prejudices, etc. From my current position, I don't see a big difference between this article and what happens almost everywhere: people living to show and to do/be scared/angry/happy/etc. as instructed by whatever trend or convention, rather than really having/enjoying/experiencing. I don't even find any of this sad anymore.
Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
I'm pretty sure I've been doing some of these roles for free. Time to start charging.
Just curious...
Can a guy "rent" a girlfriend to spend the night? LOL!!!!
That would be a unique way to disguise the oldest profession in the world....!
Your space is fake.
Myspace is real. It's just outdated.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
There can be no good coming from telling a child that a man who isn't her father *is* her father and it is expected to keep up the charade forever.
The real problem here is that a child is being bullied for not having a father. Real fathers can get sick and die. Or killed in an accident. My father died much sooner than I would have liked and I still needed his guidance and advice. Other men stepped up and helped me. I didn't ask them they just did it.
Japan. What a fucked up place. First, Tubgirl and hentai tentacle porn. Now this.
First
And you've shared credit for this with everyone, by posting as AC! Aren't you a man/woman/otherwise of the people?
Wish we had that here. Could finally have a reason to step out of my mother's basement!
n/t
Have gnu, will travel.
They put up this guy's real name and picture on that article. How probable is it that none of that girl's friends ever read this and none of them ever tell her.
When everything can be obtained with money... even affection... specially affection.
Chicken or egg? Which came first, the gun, or the culture?
You ARE a hermit. We've read your manifesto. :-)
Funny, the manga Skip Beat has an actress working a job like this on the side, and I thought it was just a made-up occupation.
(Of course, it'd be even funnier if the idea for the business came from reading Skip Beat.)
I am your father...
I am your father...
I am your father...
The Japanese will be the first.
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If 'daddy' also runs a night-shift version of his business, where he rents himself out to those same daughters as their 'daddy' for the night.
Wouldn't that be some hilarious and sick grooming that you could also expect from the Japanese?
I would say it this could go over quite well here as well, except that most of the people who would want it don't have the money to afford it.
A professional escort is not generally obligated to lie to others about who they are.
Mine are. They are paid to say they are my Sexy Russian Body-Guards.
"Luke, I'm not your father". Noooooo!
entitled and isolated.... really?
all cultures must fall to the sjw globlist agenda of deconstructing societies in favor of globalist mudh culture.
slashdot is nothing but sjw propaganda for nerds
"The whole point of getting rich is to be able to stop working and enjoy your life properly. "
For some, the issue of obtaining wealth is about *control* and not leisure. It can be about control of others (e.g. ordering around paid servant or perhaps influencing others in society via media or such). Or it can be about having control over what you can work on yourself (e.g. open source volunteerism).
There are probably other reasons people pursue wealth or status -- including fear of poverty (e.g. perhaps someone being motivated to become US President after growing up in a broken home).
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
He's got a job for life.