Middle-Aged People are Being Rented in Japan - Know Why
Middle-aged men are being rented in Japan as accompaniments. The service providers strictly say that these have nothing to do with physical intimacy and are more like paid listeners.
Feelings of angst and fear are a part of the human soul and you cannot separate it from life. But if you are in Japan, you have a place where you can dump your worries. The psychological woe can lead you to ruination bit by bit. Psychologists say that when you see yourself through someone else’s eyes, you learn a lot about yourself. The same thoughts are shared by a forty-eight-year-old man who has offered himself for rent.
Ken Sasaki is this ever-smiling man who is often found wearing this cute miniature panda shirt with a violin in his hand and you want this duo- the rent is about $9. He is not what you call handsome in general terms. Age has drawn those beautiful lines on his face that always gives a sign of hope. But his youthfulness and free-spirited soul screeches within his grey hair and greets a big hello to all. He is more like a bohemian who is there to spread happiness.
He was interviewed through Skype, and as this man progressed through this one hour interview, he was seen being enthusiastic after every question. He had this indomitable spirit that flagged his enormous energy. He never failed to express the thoughtful person that resides within him.
He is a rented “ossan”. In Japanese, the term means a middle-aged man. He has put himself for rent for any purpose other than physical intimacy. He charges on an hourly basis. Researcher says that many people prefer to express themselves to complete strangers as they do not have to think at the back of mind that they are being judged. Especially in Japan, people are more inclined to share about vulnerabilities to complete strangers and that’s where such demands are created. The need of the hour is such elderly people who have that kind of wisdom and will be able to listen to those woes and share a piece of advice.
There are no strings attached and people are more like dumping their random thoughts to a person who is not known to them. An online service of Ossan Rental was started by Takanobu Nishimoto on the same thought. You just meet up with that person anywhere and when you are done with your burst of thoughts, you are free to go and never meet that person ever in life. The speaker, this way do not have the worry that their said words will spread through the word of mouth. Sasaki is being that ear to all those strangers who genuinely wish to get help.
A new venture
This was something that did not have a huge response at the initial stage. But gradually, it took a turn and currently as per reports Takanobu Nishimoto’s ossan service has 45 rentals every day. His service is spread over 36 cities in Japan with 80 people working as ossan. These rented people are not medical counselors and that is to be clarified in the first place. They are common people like you and me who come from various occupational backgrounds. In this ossan service, there are engineers, financiers, HR professionals and so on. When since he started this service, he himself attended 5000 clients. As per his statement, the significant work of this service is finding the ossan. He says that there are applications of approx 10 middle aged people every week. But if an average is to be done, only 78 people out of 10,000 fit in this role.
The people chosen must not have hidden desires that might affect the process. The selection procedure is tough, so many are crossed out from being prospective ossan. He also said, that having great looks is not important but being a very good listener is the utmost requirement. People having a history of struggles over emotional problems are usually a good prospect as Nishimoto says that these people are more patient and considerate while listening to problems. When he started with this service, he expected that young boys would like to come and seek for the rented wise men and seek advice from these ossans. But to his surprise, more women were asking for the service.
He also mentioned that most of the clients demand of speaking to the ossan on an urgent basis. Like a problem occurs and they need to talk about it right now. But Nishimoto says he believes in the face to face communication and thinks that’s more sufficing the cause.
Sasaki says that he has faced many weird encounters as well where he was asked to attend a birthday party and put on a mask that had a popular pop star’s face. All the time the people were shouting and calling that popstar’s name while he played the violin. Ken Sasaki says that most of the requests are related to playing the violin and he loves doing that. Both Nishimoto and Sasaki follow the strict rule of “no touch” as they are there in this work for two tasks. One as being discussed is helping people and the other is lifting the position of middle-aged people among the youth. Both of them agree that the youth has turned hostile and arrogant toward this age group and this might be a way of turning things right.
Another encounter of Sasaki was from a 50-year-old woman who had no partner to go to her dance recital, and requested Sasaki to come along and cheer her up. Another such heartfelt request came from an old person who wanted Sasaki to go the Chess Center with him. He wanted accompaniment as he was handicapped and believed going there alone would be very awkward.
Critics comment
There are critics who commented after their research that this website of Nishimoto is just another dating site, without claiming to do so. The critic commented that not adding words like, “sex” or “romance” does not make this website anything superior. The critic gives justification to this statement by stating the fact that the website introduces these middle-aged men as “new products” and has the details of their age and physical features.
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