...Duncan Bartlett discovers that money really can buy you love in Tokyo.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7818140.stm
Here's one segment of the story:
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Rent-a-friend in Japan | |
| The right pet ...First you pay a deposit and a hire fee. Then you are issued with a leash, some tissues and a plastic bag and given some advice on how to handle your new friend. Kaori is a pretty waitress who regularly spends her Sunday afternoons with a Labrador. They go for a walk in the park if the weather is fine, or if it is wet they just snuggle up in front of the TV in her apartment. "When I look into his eyes, I think he's my dog," Kaori told me. "But when I take him back to the shop, he runs away from me and starts wagging his tail when he sees the next customer. That's when I know he's only a rental dog."
...Cry for help ...Mr M.O. from Shizuoka near Mount Fuji called upon the services of I Want To Cheer Up Ltd because he needed a father. Mr M.O. has been blind since birth and had a number of concerns that he felt he could not speak to others about. "I kept it all inside and couldn't deal with the criticisms that had been directed at me by my parents and teachers," he testified. After some discussion, the company sent an older man to have dinner with him. "Usually I can't open up when I meet someone for the first time but on that occasion, I felt I was really talking with a normal father. I'll use the service again," he said. Loneliness is a problem faced by many people on these crowded islands. But the Japanese are prone to believe that, in the right circumstances, money can turn a stranger into a friend... at least for a couple of hours. 
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