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For a mere $69 per hour, you can rent a middle aged man in Tokyo. He is called an "ossan", the Japanese word for an honorary uncle. An ossan can be hired for any non-physical purpose. Their services are usually called on for friendship and advice.
Like many urban centers worldwide, people in Tokyo prefer anonymity when it comes to their wants, needs and vulnerabilities.
Urban citizens may be desperate to get advice from an older, wiser person, but they don't want to turn to the guy they've worked with for years or the uncle who remembers the tears shed over a broken toy truck. Someone familiar might judge them.
It's much better to pour your woes into a stranger's ear, grab the good advice and run ... or so goes the logic of Takanobu Nishimoto, 50, who founded an onlineOssan Rental service in 2012. Renting a stranger for advice and meeting in, say, a cafe means you will never have to meet again, he said: "Stories will spread if clients talk to someone they know."
This is a great concept. I'm in! Call me! $69 per hour!
Like many urban centers worldwide, people in Tokyo prefer anonymity when it comes to their wants, needs and vulnerabilities.
Urban citizens may be desperate to get advice from an older, wiser person, but they don't want to turn to the guy they've worked with for years or the uncle who remembers the tears shed over a broken toy truck. Someone familiar might judge them.
It's much better to pour your woes into a stranger's ear, grab the good advice and run ... or so goes the logic of Takanobu Nishimoto, 50, who founded an onlineOssan Rental service in 2012. Renting a stranger for advice and meeting in, say, a cafe means you will never have to meet again, he said: "Stories will spread if clients talk to someone they know."
This is a great concept. I'm in! Call me! $69 per hour!
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