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'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

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Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#221

Post by fomine3 »

bjeds wrote: post #22
chickenmonkey wrote: post #9

Ultimately, perhaps some of these people are really looking for a therapist.

... but without the stigma. But I think the guy himself has a point when he says he lowers the bar. Think how many different jobs (or "roles") there that can be ranked in a kind of hierarchy: not in the sense of a career ladder, but in services and expertise offered. Between the bottom of this hierarchy, and nothing, is a gap to fill. Take for example personal protection. Sure, if I need a high tier of that service,…

Fortune teller in Japan is sometimes considered as a lightweight blackbox version of therapist. They listen customer's talk and give advive in blackbox way.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#222

Post by rawgabbit »

I admire a lot of Japanese culture. But I dislike their extreme “work ethic.” It is a mark of pride to work to the point of literally passing out.

Karoshi or death by overwork. https://www.insider.com/karoshi-how-overwork-in-japan-killed...

It seems like Morimoto opted out of that suicidal culture. Good for him.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#223

Post by labster »

rootsudo wrote: post #208
Blikkentrekker wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, you seem to be wrong about all three: https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-ikebukuro... This article reviews three different boy's love cafés, in close proximity to one another. I'm not sure how derive the conclusion that there is only one used underwear vending machine; a simple image search reveals many different models: https://www.techinasia.com/japan-used-panty-vending-machines... This artic…

You also need to understand a bit of Japan. Ikebukuro is the womens/girls Akiba. So it's really normal to see the oppoiste of Akiba there. There are countless cafes there that cater to females, where in Akiba it is male. And akiba is short for akihabara. The underwear vending machine are out, and hidden now, mostly Akiba from what I hear on whispers, not in public. Maybe even one in Nakano broaddway... And Kissa's in…

More like Akihabara is long for Akiba: https://soranews24.com/2018/05/26/why-is-akihabara-shortened...

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#225

Post by viraptor »

pezezin wrote: post #218
exclusiv wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Separately, I've heard personal reports and seen a documentary about young Japanese men in general. It was said that their mothers do everything for them and for a much longer time than other countries. Is this true?

Disclaimer: I have been living in Japan for two years, but I'm nowhere an expert in their culture. Some of my female coworkers have confirmed this to be true. They say younger guys have problems finding a girlfriend, because they expect her to take care of him the same way his mother did, and younger Japanese women don't want to put up with that kind of attitude anymore. Regarding social development, my feeling is th…

Also not an expert, but it seems to exist in culture overall. You can see reflection in movies, (where it's not the main topic) for example in "Tokyo Family" (2013) you'll see that when his wife dies, an older, physically capable man starts getting his cooked meals provided by neighbours like it's obvious that happens now.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#226

Post by [deleted] »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #91
Blikkentrekker wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that this article alleges the existence of a single individual, rather than a trend. The other article spoke in vague words of quantity, which is quite common in news articles, that a certain quantity is suggested, but actual numbers are never shown. They are then not technically wrong but know full well most readers would infer a more spectacular claim than what they know the truth is. I'd argue th…

Yes, but the article's critique is a good one. "Look at this weird thing that they do in Japan" is practically a genre of online story. Japan gets a special media callout, to quote the article, as a "menagerie of the weird, the alien, the freakish." When you see these articles about folks in the U.S., it's framed at "this guy is weird." When you see these articles about folks in Japan, it's frequently framed as "Japa…

[deleted]

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#227

Post by gamacodre »

xyzelement wrote: post #101

I can't quite put my finger on how to define "this" but it seems like stories like "this" have been replacing stories of drive and grit in our cultural lore. It's en vogue now to talk about "doing nothing" or making it sound normal that you need to hire someone you don't know to accompany you to visit the hospital, etc. I am sure this is a part of the human experience but is it really a part we need to normalize, ver…

That assumes that your goal is to get to "the top," though. And the world being a tough, competitive place was much less (directly) relevant, and to many fewer people, just 20 or 30 years ago when they could nestle into their own communities and occasionally decry the state of the world as seen through newspapers and the 6:00 news.

I'll speculate that we're seeing more high-profile stories about "unremarkable person does a peaceful thing" because the internet allows it.

It used to be, that stories of exceptional drive or grit were likely to appeal to gritty, driven publishing executives, back when publishing (or syndication) involved offices full of people doing things to pieces of paper. These days, you can publish worldwide from your smartphone, and the people who _aren't_ filled with grit and drive can at least summon a "like" when they see someone doing something that resonates with them.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#228

Post by hh3k0 »

xyzelement wrote: post #133
hh3k0 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The reason I say this is because I think the world is a tough competitive place whether we act like it or not. It doesn't have to be, though. I guess the individuals featured in such stories are the change they want to see in the world.

Sorry, but LOL. You can't opt out of competition any more than you can opt out of gravity. If you aren't "strong" enough to do the hard work, someone else in your town will do it and reap the rewards while you become irrelevant. If your whole town opts out, some other part of the country will do it while your town drifts away into irrelevance and poverty. If the whole country opts out, some other young and hungry cou…

> Everything we have is because we or our ancestors (whether literal ancestors or the people that built the countries we live in) did the hard work.

1) You can work hard in a non-competitive society.

2) That being said, hard work isn't -- contrary to what you seem to think -- inherently good. An industrialized genocide took place because my ancestors were diligent and hard-working. And I'd wager that a significant portion of modern-day hard workers is complicit in committing ecocide.

3) Besides, the way that you fetishize your ancestors' way of life I surely hope you're not vaccinated against polio and tetanus. And heaven forbid, I hope you are not wearing contact lenses or glasses. Disregard the current levels of automation and manifold other advances, putting in the hard work in a competitive society and eventually dying of typhus is most definitely the way.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#229

Post by fersho311 »

I myself don't like to be cheered on by others. I get upset when people simply tell me keep on trying. When someone is trying to do something, I think the best thing to do is to help lower the bar for them by staying at their side," he explains...

This resonates with me a lot. Every time someone cheers me on, I try to meet their expectations but after wards I feel extremely burnt out.

Re: 'Rent-a-person who does nothing' in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude

#230

Post by derangedHorse »

zanny wrote: post #183
Blikkentrekker wrote: post #47

The title reminds me of the Japanese strip Rent-a-Girlfriend , and how much it, and several similar ideas coming from Japan seem to express how lonely many of it's citizens might be feeling. Japanese commerce seems to have found a rather big market into treating loneliness. From the existence of Host Clubs, bars where the menu is not only food, but a good conversation with one's designated “host” as well, to cafés w…

I eat this stuff up as a constantly lonely person, not in the "I wish I had a boyfriend" sense, in the "theres nobody to talk to, ever" sense. Like you get up, you work, you consume entertainment, maybe you go on HN or Reddit or Twitter or whatever and you throw words out that other people filter through like junk food, maybe you even go so far to join a fan community for something for a week or two and talk about it…

I hate the idea of other people having to feel alone and always try to reach out to people when I believe they’re feeling isolated but one of the hard things about doing that is some of those individuals don’t exactly “click” with me.

It sucks because sometimes I know that there’s a community out there that exists for them but even with the Facebook, Twitters, and Reddits of the world, somehow they’re all devoid of the ability to find and form intimate connections with others (Facebook is great for connecting with people in my existing social graph, not finding people outside of it)

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