In Japan you can hire actors to pose as short/longterm spouses, children, friends, etc. A man was hired to pose as a girl’s missing father by her mother for over 8 years without his “daughter” knowing
37-year-old Ishii Yuichi is a father to over 25 families and a husband to over 600 women – but none of them are his real family members.
Together with the 1,200 actors he employs at his company Family Romance, he has played every part from stand-in father for a wedding, missing dad to long lost son and even make-believe groom in his job as a companion for hire.
For a fee starting from JPY 8000 ($72), customers can place an order at his Tokyo-based family rental service company for professional companions tailored to their specific requests (i.e. temperament, appearance, behaviour), whether they’re searching for a friend to pose with in happy Instagram photos, an infant to impersonate a grandson or a groom for a staged wedding.
I played a father for a 12-year-old with a single mother. The girl was bullied because she didn’t have a dad, so the mother rented me. I’ve acted as the girl’s father ever since. I am the only real father that she knows. If the client never reveals the truth, I must continue the role indefinitely. If the daughter gets married, I have to act as a father in that wedding, and then I have to be the grandfather. So, I always ask every client, “Are you prepared to sustain this lie?” It’s the most significant problem our company has.
Family Romance is just one of many companies in a new wave of family rental services gaining traction in Japan. A number of rental platforms have emerged in recent years, offering everything from family and friends to funeral guests and dinner dates, with strict protocol specifying the prohibition of intimate acts.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.