A service has launched in Japan that hires out knights in shining armour armed with packs of tissues to stressed professional women. The concept of the business, called Ikemeso Danshi (loosely translated as "good looking men who cry"), is that women who feel under pressure working in a busy, male-dominated environment, sometimes want to do something "traditionally feminine", you know, like cry. So, frustrated at being professionally and socially consumed by an inequal patriarchy, they hire in even more men to comfort them? Something doesn’t quite add up.
The service has been founded by a man called Hiroki Terai who appears to have quite the penchant for weeping. Two years ago he launched a collective crying therapy group and also released a photography book of "handsome men in tears" this year.
According to Japan Trends, this is how the service – that Terai says is completely legit – works. If you’re a Japanese woman and having a terrible day at work, you can place an order for an ikemen to come round. So far, there are six to choose from, including "bad boy", a dentist and a wise old intellectual. Together, you watch sad, tearjerking films to get you welling up. Then, once you’re in full flow, the man will place in hand on the wall behind you, you know like men do in films when they’re in the throes of seduction, he’ll touch your cheek and he’ll wipe away your tears with a tissue. The service costs just over £40.
Working as a woman in a Japanese office must be utterly draining if someone out there thinks there’s a gap in the market for a service like this. Check some of the options below.
