Loneliness and alienation among young people is an ongoing social problem in Japan.
Last winter, we brought you an article that described lonely university students eating lunch alone in bathrooms and paying for companionship. Since then, the “rental friend” phenomenon has continued at full speed, and a recent article provides a detailed description of a 35-year-old man’s outings in Tokyo with a girlfriend that he rents once a month.
The article outlines a weekend day the two spent together and describes how having access to a “Rental Friend” service has helped the man with social anxiety and improved his quality of life. However, it also includes the monetary details of the relationship: customers pay as much as 40,000 yen (over $400) for a day of companionship. 2ch netizens were quick to draw parallels to the sex industry, and many expressed shock at the high prices.
From Yahoo! Japan:
Rent A Friend/Girlfriend, Satisfy Your Heart – Meal and Conversation…
There are shops I want to go to, but it’s discouraging to go alone. I want to talk to someone, but I don’t have a companion. Hoping to fill in the gaps in the hearts of people like that, a service called “Rental Friend” was born.
■ Over 40,000 Yen for 11 Hours
On September 8, all of Japan was excited about the Tokyo Olympics decision.
A man heads toward Tokyo by car from his home in northern Kanto. He is 35 years old and unmarried. His monthly “modest amusement” begins.
11 a.m. in front of a Western clothes shop. The appointment is always at this place and this time. He picks up the girl waiting there and heads toward Akihabara.
The girl, who knew that he likes professional wrestling, looks for a shop, and together they browse the masks and T-shirts. He’s shy and doesn’t call her by her name. Nevertheless, he speaks about his personal worries:
“My mother says she’s been hospitalized.”
”Oh, really? You must be worried.”
Lunch is curry. They tour the shops, and as they leave an art gallery at the end, it’s pouring rain. He holds an umbrella to keep the girl from getting wet.
At 7 pm, it’s time to part ways. He hands her the 31,000 yen from his wallet, and starts on his way back home.
This girl is a “Rental Friend.” She’s one member of the staff of “female-only handymen,” with a base of “client partners” focused on Eastern Japan.
It was last spring that the man called this company. He began to talk about his breakup with his girlfriend two years before. He had persisted with repeated phone calls and visits to her house. He even got a warning from the police. “At this rate, we’ll arrest you.” During this time of time of trouble, he heard about the company on TV.
”I started using the service, and I changed. I played billiards and darts for the first time, and played catch in the park. I was thinking about my ex-girlfriend less.”
He wakes up at 6 in the morning and works with machines in a factory. He returns home around 8 pm, and just goes to sleep. He has weak social skills, and can’t drink alcohol. Into that daily life, a transformation was born.
When he toured the sight-seeing areas of Yokohama, she was by his side for 11 hours. The payment was over 40,000 yen.
At first, he was opposed to the idea of paying someone to be his companion. “But when we go all these places together and she listens to my worries, I can forget the disagreeable parts. I’ve begun to think that this is good.” He says that at work he’s starting to be told, “You aren’t getting angry anymore these days.”
Comments from 2ch.net:
チェーン攻撃(埼玉県):
True loners wouldn’t be able to do something this embarassing.
キン肉バスター(福岡県):
Even if you do this, you’ll become even more empty and just collapse in self-loathing. w
ジャンピングカラテキック(埼玉県):
I want to see the faces of the assholes who use this kind of service!
稲妻レッグラリアット(静岡県):
Isn’t a massage from a high-school girl better and cheaper?
ニールキック(新疆ウイグル自治区)：
so expensive!
ジャンピングエルボーアタック(長屋)：
How is this different from escorts in the sex industry?
フェイスロック(四国地方)：
For 31,000 yen, i’d rather get jerked off at a Soapland.
栓抜き攻撃(庭)：
This will probably end when some jerk misunderstands and causes an incident. This has even more bad taste than an ear-cleaning parlor.
ファイナルカット(福井県)：
Paying in cash would make me sad, so let’s just make it an account debit.
バックドロップ(東日本)：
It’s too bad, but your real intentions show through your behavior. You assholes can’t bear a natural rejection.
魔神風車固め(関東・甲信越)：
I don’t necessarily want to have sex, but this is good news for me since I was paying a lot to talk to girls in the sex industry.
ローリングソバット(京都府)：
This probably isn’t feasible. Bastards without friends don’t have any money.
ツームストンパイルドライバー(庭)：
This sort of thing isn’t necessary for true loners. Instead, they find spending time with someone annoying.
毒霧(新疆ウイグル自治区)：
How much does touching cost?
ファルコンアロー(dion軍)：
Even if you only use it on the weekends, it’s 40,000 yen a month?… Guys who have friends or a girlfriend get all that stuff for free.
ボ ラギノール(dion軍)：
This is true at cabarets and stuff too, but what’s fun about talking to someone who is entertaining for money?
サッカーボールキック(神奈川県)：
Well, I think it’s weird that she’s your girlfriend but you can’t have sex with her.
膝靭帯固め(埼玉県)：
How much for sex?
魔神風車固め(関西・北陸)：
I’m fine with sticking to two dimensions.
張り手(大阪府)：
He brags to his rented friends about his rented girlfriend.
