Interest
Need Someone to Talk To? Rent a Friend
posted on by Bamboo Dong
A rental service in Japan knows just the way to brush your loneliness away. For an hourly fee, they'll provide clients with a friend, in case someone needs a pal to go to the movies with, go shopping with, hit the clubs with, or maybe just lend an open ear.
Client Partners, which is headquartered in Tokyo, but has a few branches in other locations throughout eastern Japan, provides female companions of a wide range of ages. Don't let your mind wander—the services they provide are completely platonic.
In an interview by the Asahi Shimbum, one of the company's returning clients said he at first balked at the idea of paying for a hang-out partner. However, after several strained encounters with an ex-girlfriend that ended with a threat of a restraining order, he decided to give Client Partners a shot.
Like many adults, he found that he had no time to socialize. His days started at 6:30AM, and after a long day at a factory tending machines, didn't get home until 8PM, at which point he just wanted to sleep. And, as he said, he was no good at dating, and wasn't a drinker. So after an 11-hour (and over $400) adventure with his rented companion that involved visiting tourist sights in Yokohama, he felt much better, and continues to use the service. He says that even his co-workers have noticed that he doesn't get angry at work anymore.
The company's website allows clients to peruse their available friends-for-rent, but although the friends are all women, the company stresses that their services are useful for both men and women. In addition to providing companionship for everyday hanging out, the website also has a list of services they can provide, such as housework support for motherless families, picking up items from the convenience store, staying with housewives who are scared of having a cockroach in the house, advice regarding free-loading children, general life coaching, organizing around the house, assembling furniture, and more.
For lonely travelers stuck abroad, they also accept inquiries in English.
The photo below shows one of the rental friends spending time with a male customer in his 60s who outlived his wife.
[Source: Asahi Shimbum]
