When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Japan

Rent-A-Friend: A Solution For The Lonely People Of Japan

Instead of actually forging relationships, or continuing those they have already, Japanese people are hiring actors to play the roles of loved ones.

Tokyo doesn't have to be so lonely
Tokyo doesn't have to be so lonely
Philippe Mesmer

TOKYO — It used to be common in Japan to rent priests. For what exactly? To officiate at fake wedding ceremonies. Foreign guests could also be rented — it made weddings more international, more chic.

Those were just for fun. Today, though, people are hiring “friends” in Japan, but for other reasons. More and more lonely Japanese people are willing to pay a pretty yen to spend some time with people, sometimes for just a day, in the company of a random actor who is looking for a bit of income on the side.

There are at least 10 companies — twice as many as eight years ago — who offer a multitude of services to those who can't find companions or might otherwise choose to avoid the responsibility that real friendships and relationships bring.

At Client Partners, one of the leading companies, the standard hourly rate is about 2,980 yen ($28), though the first hour costs double, including transport costs. And, by some accounts, it works pretty well. Client Partners, active all over Japan, receives dozens of requests each month. One company official explains: “These are people who lack self-confidence and are particularly sensitive to other people’s judgement.”

Although it’s difficult to measure the exact extent of the problem, loneliness is increasing in Japan, and it becomes evident from university days. “Fewer and fewer students participate in the activities organised by the clubs and societies,” says Sohei Ide, from Osaka University, an expert on issues relating to isolation and author of an investigation about student’s social attendance and participation. “If they fail to make contacts during their early days on campus, they will remain permanently isolated.”

---

“Nobody likes being alone that much. I don't go out of my way to make friends, that's all. It just leads to disappointment.” — Japanese author Haruki Murakami

---

This phenomenon is set to increase. “Young people today are immersed in a world where they can live entirely separated from others and it’s happening right before our eyes,” says psychiatrist Rika Kamaya, who traces the root of the problem to the development of smart phones and gaming consoles. Some of her patients say that they feel “lonely, even in the middle of a crowd,” and “consider establishing a real relationship with another person as an effort.”

This is where the students become customers of these rent-a-friend agencies. So, for a while, they can chat and get their worries off their chests, go shopping or watch a movie. To sum it up, they want be with a real person who appears to care about them.

[rebelmouse-image 27087734 alt="""" original_size="900x675" expand=1]

(Catt390)

In a general sense, these agencies take advantage of friendships gone awry and bad family situations, and offer services suited to even the most diverse of situations. Hagemashi Tai advertises actors who are able to play any of your relatives; uncles, aunts, or even your distant relatives, to help fill out attendance at both weddings and funerals. If you want them to make a speech, that costs extra.

Single mothers can rent husbands for 5,000 ($48) an hour, where the actors can help the kids with their homework or “solve minor problems with the neighbors.” It’s also possible to rent someone to play your mother or father so you can confide your problems in them. A woman planning to get married could even get someone to play her husband, just to see what it’s really like to live with a partner.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

eyes on the U.S.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

The U.S. legal system cannot simply run its course in a vacuum. Presidential politics, and democracy itself, are at stake in the coming weeks and months.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

File photo of former U.S. President Donald Trump in Clyde, Ohio, in 2020.

Emma Shortis*

-Analysis-

Events often seem inevitable in hindsight. The indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump on criminal charges has been a possibility since the start of his presidency – arguably, since close to the beginning of his career in New York real estate.

But until now, the potential consequences of such a cataclysmic development in American politics have been purely theoretical.

Today, after much build-up in the media, The New York Times reported that a Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Trump and the Manhattan district attorney will now likely attempt to negotiate Trump’s surrender.

The indictment stems from a criminal investigation by the district attorney’s office into “hush money” payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels (through Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen), and whether they contravened electoral laws.

Trump also faces a swathe of other criminal investigations and civil suits, some of which may also result in state or federal charges. As he pursues another run for the presidency, Trump could simultaneously be dealing with multiple criminal cases and all the court appearances and frenzied media attention that will come with that.

These investigations and possible charges won’t prevent Trump from running or even serving as president again (though, as with everything in the U.S. legal system, it’s complicated).

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest