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.

Comments

wow

[supernova87a]

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!

Re: wow

[Anonymous Coward]

The same is true of any employee in any situation. They are being paid to hang around and pretend that they care about someone else's company.

Oh, come on...

[Baron_Yam]

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.

Very sad

[Diakoneo]

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.

No way

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Hm..

[fahrbot-bot]

...Just when I think we've reached the limits of how crazy fucked-up the Japanese can be, they show me I'm wrong.

On the other hand, they don't seem to be spending any time shooting people at music festivals, churches or schools every other week.

A source of jobs in a post-scarcity economy?

[ErichTheRed]

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.

Mrs. Doubtfire moment waiting to happen

[GameboyRMH]

What happens when he has a scheduling conflict between two roles he has to play?

Re:Hm..

[steveha]

[the Japanese] don't seem to be spending any time shooting people at music festivals, churches or schools every other week.

I'm not sure if you are trolling but I think this is in fact a valid point, and it's one of the reasons why I and others are opposed to banning firearms.

I recommend a book called The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy which analyzes gun control and gun violence in Japan, Canada, and the USA. The conclusion of the book: gun misuse is overwhelmingly a cultural thing. Japan may have gun control laws, but it's not the laws that keeps gun violence low there, it's the culture.

I believe that even if the USA adopted the exact same laws that Japan has, gun violence in the USA wouldn't change very much. Changing the culture is much harder but also much more likely to have an effect.

BTW Japan has a whole lot of suicides. Someone who is really super upset there is more likely to kill himself rather than trying to kill a bunch of others.

P.S. Mass murder events do happen in Japan: http://time.com/4423216/mass-killings-japan-tsukui/

Japan doesn't have as many as the USA. Japan has a smaller population, so one would expect fewer events, but even after adjusting for population it's less. However, it's not zero.