True friends are hard to come by. Rentable ones? Not quite as hard–but that’s only true if you happen to be in Japan. There’s a new rental service in town being offered by Client Partners, and it turns out that friends, even the fake ones, don’t come cheap. For the rest of us who’ve managed to make real friends without having to pay them outright somehow, it’s hard to imagine what it feels like to have to pay some agency just to get people to go out with you.
So to give everyone a look at the other side of the coin, here’s a testimony by one of Client Partners’ satisfied customers:
The article recounts how last summer, one lonely 25 year-old named Kouichi (not his real name) rented two female friends to go to a dance club for ¥30,000 ($341). For a part time worker like Kouichi, that’s a hefty fee. But he ended up having a great time.
“There’s a feeling of security when you are accepted unconditionally,” Kouichi said, adding it was better to pay for friends than getting rejected.
I’d rather be alone than have to pay people to go out and “have fun” with me, but that’s just my two cents.
VIA [ Geekologie ]
