The Booming Japanese Rent-a-Friend Business (theatlantic.com) 276
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.
wow (Score:5, Interesting)
Leads to some great things, admittedly, but also sometimes very saddening!
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He mentioned principles. You stated personality traits based on extremes of said principles.
It's the same thing.
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I find the other extreme, regularly encountered in California, to be disgusting, depressing, etc (wearing emotions on sleeves; making every decision based on emotional whim; manufactured outrage; unable to live with being offended).
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Is that an expression or did they actually start wearing coloured bracelets or something?
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Doesn't anyone remember any Shakespeare?
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.
--Shakespeare, Othello, Act 1, Scene 1
Of course it originally didn't mean what people think it means today. Following the Othello reference, it is meant to denote someone who is potentially aggressively expressing a thought or belief to appear to be faithful, but in reality has a subversive intent. Think of it the counterpart to another common Shakespearean phrase: "The lady doth protest too much."
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In my country we call this job an "escort."
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In my country we call escort "a piece of crap made by Ford".
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In other words, a Ford.
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Regardless, I would be surprised if a genuine affection between the two has not developed and therefore, the relationship is real.
The guy would to be a real jackass to call it off at anytime.
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If the mom stopped paying, time to go.
Business is business and friendship doesn't put food on the table.
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I think this is creepy, then I thought of nannies. While it doesn't have any of the lie/false relationship (maybe we'll find out this whole story is fake), the nanny is paid to be there, and is also in a friendship with the kid, especially as the kid gets older. If the nanny stopped being paid, she'd leave, to earn wages elsewhere.
(While it's a fictionalized account, I recently saw the awesome movie "Goodbye Christopher Robin", and he seemed to have a better relationship with his nanny than he did with hi
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...the relationship is real.
Allow me to pick a nit. I think it's accurate to say, "there's a real relationship." But the relationship that the girl thinks she has is fabricated.
The guy would to be a real jackass to call it off at anytime.
Calling off the relationship would be heartless but, as an adult, I think the girl deserves to know the truth. Continuing to lie to her seems dishonest. Lying to her in the first place I feel was a mistake on the mother's part.
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Allow me to pick a nit. I think it's accurate to say, "there's a real relationship." But the relationship that the girl thinks she has is fabricated.
While it started as a paid service, if the girl believes that this person is her father, is the relationship itself fabricated -- to her? Does it matter otherwise?
Calling off the relationship would be heartless but, as an adult, I think the girl deserves to know the truth.
The heartless participant in this facade is the mother. She's letting her daughter think that this is her real father. The daughter is going to find out at some point. That may be when Mom stops paying "Pop" to be "Pop" and he walks. (Twice the problem -- the girl may think she's being abandoned by her real father, or she learns the person she's t
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He's your stepfather.
"He's your stepfather who doesn't eat or sleep here, and he's never around except for functions where you need "a father", and he's not married to your Mom ..." Yeah, that lie is so much more believable.
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I know stepfathers who continue their relationship with their step children after divorces.
Critical thought in that sentence: after divorces. He can't be her step-father "after a divorce" is he was never married to her mother.
Also divorced stepfathers rarely have any easily provable legal ties to ex wives unless there was alimony involved.
Uhhh, there's a little thing called a marriage certificate.
It's a moot point, since you are saying that you replace the lie "Lucy, I am your father" with "Lucy, I am your step father" after 8 years. A "father" doesn't turn into "step-father", and if the step-father was never married to the mother then he doesn't turn into a step-father at all. "Father" doesn't need matrimo
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But the relationship that the girl thinks she has is fabricated.
So it's like an adoption?
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Re: wow (Score:5, Funny)
I think RENTING a father for 8 YEARS takes it to a new level.
It's cheaper than the real thing.
Re: wow (Score:4, Informative)
Just like renting a hooker is much cheaper than dating a girl and you know you'll get some instead of "we need to talk about our relationship".
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I think RENTING a father for 8 YEARS takes it to a new level.
It's cheaper than the real thing.
Ummm, I don't know about your childhood, but for me and most of the people I know, a father results in a positive cash flow for the family, not negative. Even if Mom is the breadwinner, Pop is usually providing parenting services that would cost a lot to buy elsewhere.
The true cost comes in emotional damage when Pop leaves, again, because Mom stops paying him to be there. Or when Pop says "I ain't payin' for your college, bitch, I ain't your real dad."
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French fries are german?
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French fries are german?
There is some debate over whether they originated in France or in Belgium.
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There is no debate.
Or are you a french fries denier?
They are Belgic, everyone knows that.
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cookies
s/kies/king/
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think of burgers and fries as American.
You actually can get a burger and fries in Hamburg. I checked.
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Well, let me assure you there's nothing crazy about cheese curds with gravy on french fries. It's perfectly normal.
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Do I know you? You sound familiar, eh?
Re:wow (Score:5, Funny)
If I learned anything by watching anime and hentai is that there's no 20 years old Japanese girls. They're either all 14 or 40.
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They are 40 and look like 14 ...
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I don't recall the last time I read something online that shocked me as much as this
Wow, you really avoid large swaths of the information superhighway don't you?
Oh, come on... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
It's also evidence of a _lot_ of unemployed (Score:2)
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If that many people are "destitute," you might want to ask yourself why you excluded them from you calculation of who "everybody" is?
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Because nobody's really destitute... at least nobody important.
As you imply, it's important to remember we all have the instinct to overlook or discount those below us in the social order... and not do so.
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Does the existence of X somewhere in America indicate that there is a society wide problem? Do you think nobody in America would use this type of service?
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Do you think America doesn't have some serious issues requiring some social engineering and improvements in health care?
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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.
But isn't such a business part of the solution?
That's a logical step in specialization society : people with great social skills get paid to make up for the lack of other people social skills. Just like people with no fishing skills buying fish from skilled fishermen.
It doesn't mean that we can't improve society and psychiatry at the same time but the existence of such businesses is not a bad thing.
Just like prosthetics : sure, it shows that we can't regrow legs and that medicine still has work to do, but i
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I think you got part of that backwards - the right wing wants men circumcised, the left doesn't. I think it's only a small minority of the right that wants women mutilated, too. I think your average God-fearing right-wing Christian in America is NOT onboard with slicing up women's privates.
The right wing tends to have a lot of white supremacists, I think the left is more about condescending to non-whites and discriminating in their favour on the implicit assumption that whites are superior. That's still
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I think you got part of that backwards - the right wing wants men circumcised, the left doesn't.
As a liberal I have to agree. Why were my genitals not mutilated at birth? Because my parents were hippies!
This is why righties are so set on controlling everybody and regulating people's bedrooms; they've got serious macho hangups because they're missing part of their junk!
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Yep, that must be why. Never mind that I'm not a hippy and am quite conservative (despite being atheist) and I didn't mutilate my kid's genitals at birth.
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Allowing people to be whatever they want is a a LOT different than forcing your beliefs on people.
You mean forcing people to tolerate things that they don't believe are right but you do isn't forcing your beliefs on them?
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Forcing tolerance is what Jesus would want.
I love it when antitheists try to tell us about religion. No, sorry, the part about "force" is a dead giveaway that you are wrong.
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...some of US right considers you to be a subhuman if your dermis has the wrong color...
Right. Who's ever accused the Japanese culture of harboring racism? Not this gaijin!
...a sizeable chunk of US left *drumroll* considers you to be a subhuman if...your genitals are not mutilated.
Who the fuck are these left-wing nuts that you speak of requiring us all to modify our genitals? I've not encountered this "sizeable chunk."
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I think the implication was that jews are usually left-wing and jews think circumcision is required. He's greatly overestimating the size of the jewish population though.
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Even the Jews only think circumcision is appropriate for half the population. They don't consider women "subhuman if...[their] genitals are not mutilated". Whether they consider non-Jews "subhuman" I suppose is up to the individual Jew, but I'd hope that's a minority opinion. I don't know the political views of a typical Jew, but I'm pretty sure their politics are independent of how they handle their dicks.
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Compared to current state of countries like the US, Japan looks quite sane to me.
It may look "sane" from the outside, but Japan remains one of the most racist societies in the world.
* Many landlords won't rent apartments to non Japanese (even Japanese people born in the US)
* Korean and Chinese people are treated especially harshly (probably because of historical issues)
* Ethnic minorities (Ainu, Ryu/Okinawan) cultures are not well respected politically
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asi... [bbc.co.uk]
I'm sorry you tried to use Japan to make your point, because I think it is lost because of that...
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You clearly don't know the Japanese society. Unbelievably racist.
Yet you can walk on the street in Japan and not get assaulted. Try walking through a black district in an US city, while white -- not a healthy idea. I've ever been to the US just twice, but both times some friends made such a mistake and had to negotiate to keep their faces in one piece. The US is incredibly racist.
Can we rent /. commenters too? (Score:5, Funny)
I'd pay to read good comments here.
virtual reality (Score:3)
it's always been a thing...
Very sad (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
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In the US an "escort" is exactly what is described in the summary; a fake date. People who don't really understand what it is often confuse it with prostitution; understandably because sex is the most important part of a date to many people! But the reality is that a large part of the work is actually "escorting" men to social events and impersonating a date; not having sex, but pretending to be romantically interested. So that other people can see him receiving attention; so he appears normal. You can't go
Re:Very sad (Score:4, Insightful)
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In the US an "escort" is exactly what is described in the summary; a fake date.
What is described in the summary is not a "fake date". This is someone who is being paid by a third party to act as if he's a girl's father. This is a long-term usually genetic relationship, which involves deep emotional ties and trust. A "fake date" ends at the end of the night, it's a low-level social interaction for a few hours.
Those who hire escorts to attend some function with them are fully aware of the situation and the temporary status of the "relationship". They are generally not deluded enough to
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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.
In the USA, this kind of deception could have legal consequences that might be bad for the actor. In most if not all US states, child support is viewed as the right of the child. That means that states can go after deadbeat dads. And there have been cases where non-biological fathers thought they were a child's biological father and found out that they weren't but they still had to pay child support because it's the child's right to get support and that trumps a lack of a biological connection.
Re:Very sad (Score:4, Informative)
I finally came back to RTFA.
Most posts here (including some in this thread tree) keep talking about prostitutes and escorts. Which isn't unreasonable given TFS.
But TFA goes further. It's surreal. This sort of acting, of... reality orchestration, is the kind of shit reserved for fiction. The Truman Show. It's unexpectedly similar to Dollhouse, if you've seen it:
[regarding a 60-year-old man whose wife died]
Morin: "Did she have the same memories as the wife?"
Yuichi: "There are certain memories, yes. There’s a blank sheet, and the client writes the memories that he wants the wife to remember."
This is the stuff of fantasy, Hollywood CIA professionals who replace people (could be friend, could be foe) with a trained lookalike. If you told me such a business existed, I'd mock the sheer practicality of it (many posts have) but it turns out people will take what's available. Limited durations (not if the money keeps flowing) or capabilities aren't a problem for some scenarios. Give TFA a read, people. I can see how various "apology" actors would be useful.
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What happens when the actor dad quits, becomes a drunk, or otherwise screws up? Seems like this is a path to creating a worse situation, not a better one.
He drowns in a fake boating accident obviously.
Don't forget to upgrade the plan (Score:2)
Hm.. (Score:2)
...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.
Re:Hm.. (Score:5, Interesting)
...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.
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Yeah but is that because they don't have access to weapons or because it is against their culture?
I admit I'm trolling. Still relevant.
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Yeah but is that because they don't have access to weapons or because it is against their culture?
I admit I'm trolling. Still relevant.
Your question doesn't seem like a troll - though I'm sure some moderators here would (someone modded me Flame-bait for this joke [slashdot.org]) - and I'd be curious about the availability vs. culture thing too.
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Real gun control in Japan. I worked at a company that would have Japanese clients from time to time. One of their favorite requests was to go shooting at a range. We had an AE that spoke Japanese that would take them.
Re:Hm.. (Score:5, Interesting)
[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 [goodreads.com] 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 [wikipedia.org]. 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/ [time.com]
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.
Re:Hm.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Then you are a fool. As a canadian, I've been in physical encounters with people where they have drawn weapons. If I or they had a gun instead of a knife, things would have ended much worse for someone.
It is nearly impossible to get a legal handgun in canada. Most guns used in crimes are smuggled from the USA at extreme risk. And if you carry it around and someone sees that, you are going to jail.
Like it or not, if you want to change the culture of gun violence in the USA, you have to start by restricting gun sales. That means depriving people of owning guns that are not meant for hunting. All automatic weapons, all hand guns, and probably more types too (i am not an expert on guns, nor would i care to be). It means getting people to give up the "personal self defence" aspect of gun ownership. I doubt anyone has guns for that purpose in canada, simply because they are so restricted with how you can transport them and use them, any situation where you would need to have the gun "at the ready" for defence, simply wouldn't be possible.
So i would argue that you have no idea about canadian gun laws and how they are influencing society. The laws shape the culture. I'm not sure how you could possibly miss that fundamental point. When americans say that the government can't take away their guns, that statement is clearly part law and part culture. Change the laws and you would change the culture, for sure.
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> I doubt anyone has guns for that purpose in canada, simply because they are so restricted with how you can transport them and use them, any situation where you would need to have the gun "at the ready" for defence, simply wouldn't be possible.
Weapons and ammunition in separate locked gun safes, I believe. It's been a long time and I never kept a gun at home, so I'm not the best resource for that information.
On the other hand, all sorts of medieval weapons are perfectly legal and I have a few on my wal
Re:Hm.. (Score:4, Informative)
Then you are a fool. As a canadian, I've been in physical encounters with people where they have drawn weapons. If I or they had a gun instead of a knife, things would have ended much worse for someone.
Okay, here's a thought experiment for you. What if we took an area where it was not generally legal to carry a pistol, and changed the laws so that it became generally legal to carry a pistol? Would violence go up, go down, stay the same? By your argument, it should go up.
Well, the experiment has been tried, and violence was observed to go down.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/14/murder-rates-drop-as-concealed-carry-permits-soar-/ [washingtontimes.com]
Does this prove that legalizing concealed carry causes violent crime rates to drop? No, because correlation does not prove causation. However, if your argument were valid, concealed carry would cause an increase in violence, and this data clearly contradicts this proposition.
So, you were rude to me, and you offered your own opinion as if it were fact, and the facts don't agree with your opinion.
Most guns used in crimes are smuggled from the USA at extreme risk.
It's not legal to possess crack cocaine anywhere in the USA. Yet crack addicts buy it everywhere all the time. So I'm not sure what your point is... if your argument is that the laws in Canada keep criminals from getting firearms, could you please explain how the crack addicts get crack?
For that matter, since it's against the law to commit murder, why do murders still occur?
The laws shape the culture.
That's an interesting idea but I notice you didn't support it with any kind of references or statistics or anything. I'll grant that laws can exert some kind of influence on culture but I reject the idea that government has the power to directly shape culture, that if it could just pass the right laws human nature could change. I disagree with you on this point, but I won't insult you.
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WTS facetweet followers, bulk rates only. Ask about our app/yelp/amazon review factory! Great for parties!
We have a thriving rent-a-friend business too (Score:2)
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The ones you can afford euphemistically call themselves escorts, the ones that work for legit escort agencies are actually escorts and do the job in the summary! The most often case isn't impersonating a family member, but impersonating a real date. Usually for a business function.
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Nevertheless, your point is taken, especially now that the up-and-up Japanese juggernaut, RentAFriend.com, is servicing the US too.
inflatable friends (Score:2)
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.
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Where I live these morons get their face on the evening news and then get fired from their jobs.
How much? (Score:2)
A source of jobs in a post-scarcity economy? (Score:5, Interesting)
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 [wikipedia.org] 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.
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hence, karoshi
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Interestingly, you see it as some thing born out of modern society, but I see this whole thing as a modernization of the Geisha concept from Japanese history.
FWIW, originally Geisha were MEN, it was only later that the profession became dominated by women. Also despite common misconceptions being a Geisha isn't about being a prostitute or even an escort**, but a Geisha is considered an entertainer (focused on music and engaging conversation, not sex although that is not unheard of) who is professionally tr
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"You mean, exactly like the American tech industry which only hires new graduates, only promotes laterally, and refuses to hire anyone over 30."
I certainly don't disagree that this is a problem in the US also, but managed to keep some employers interested in me past 40. It's not as easy as if I was just graduating, but my point was that a system where NO employer will touch you must lead to some difficult situations...such as doing anything the company asks to avoid getting fired, or ending up permanently d
Mrs. Doubtfire moment waiting to happen (Score:4, Interesting)
What happens when he has a scheduling conflict between two roles he has to play?
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Many modern societies aren't too different (Score:4, Insightful)
The thing is: developing actual, meaningful relationships requires going through a lot of superficial crap. You don't know in advance which people you are going to be able to relate to, so you sample around, and you first meet lots and lots of people who don't work out for you. If you don't go to that trouble, just how are you supposed to magically meet the rare person you actually hit it off with?
Now, you may say "it's not worth it". And who would I be to disagree? I make about 1 good friend every 20 years, because I mostly can't be bothered to socialize. But be aware that this is the price you pay for being a "hermit".
Your Fake Coworker (Score:2)
Wish we had that here (Score:3)
Re:Wish we had that here (Score:5, Funny)
Dude, you just need to rent a house, not a father.
With benefits? (Score:2)
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is LIES!!!???
This is different from much of modern business how exactly?
No way (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
But how is this different? (Score:2)
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.
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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.
That's actually quite awesome.
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It really isn't. Japan has something like a 99% conviction rate; the idea really is that if you were charged, you must be guilty. Or the police and prosecutors would lose face if you're found innocent.
The Ace Attorney series was created as a take that (pun intended) against the horrors of the Japanese judicial system.
Re: do they have Prostitution as part of this? (Score:5, Insightful)
The term in the sex trade I believe is "girlfriend experience". In addition to having sex with you the sex worker will also spend time pretending to love you. Since it's a higher level of service it naturally costs more.
I find the notion that something like that exists poignant. Although prostitution where it exists outside the protection of law is alarmingly exploitative, I have no fundamental objection to trading a few minutes of physical pleasure or relief for money. But creating a counterfeit experience smacks of an infantile retreat from the difficulties of genuine relationships.
In a world full of lonely people, the solution would seem to be obvious. But genuine intimacy requires risk and compromise. Compromise is increasingly a dirty word in our culture, but we fetishize risk, which is just another side of the same coin. A fetish isn't real; the kind of risk intimacy exposes you to *is* real. Nobody can disappoint, hurt or betray you like someone you love. But take away the danger, and what do you have left?
I don't have as much of a problem with playing a role where society conventionally expects someone to come with a date say, but I do have a huge problem with counterfeiting an important relationship, especially on a nonconsenting party: e.g., pretending to be a child's parent. And it comes down to the pain which only people you love can inflict on you.
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The term in the sex trade I believe is "girlfriend experience". In addition to having sex with you the sex worker will also spend time pretending to love you. Since it's a higher level of service it naturally costs more.
I speak from a lack of experience, but...isn't that the basically difference between a prostitute and an escort? The former will have sex with you, and that's it. The latter will go to an event with you, or out to dinner, or even spend the weekend. While sex may be part of the deal, it's rea
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I don't have as much of a problem with playing a role where society conventionally expects someone to come with a date say, but I do have a huge problem with counterfeiting an important relationship, especially on a nonconsenting party: e.g., pretending to be a child's parent. And it comes down to the pain which only people you love can inflict on you.
Interesting you say this, because I know of several folks who's parents pretended to be "married", and pretended to be "parents", and by counterfeiting these important relationships probably inflected an unbearable level of pain on their non-consenting children. Other than divorce money (and perhaps some payments to lawyers and therapists), no money was exchanged for the privilege...
Just sayin' counterfeiting relationships happen in real life today, and actors are not even involved. One might questions if
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Your space is fake.
Myspace is real. It's just outdated.