Top 10 Weirdest Services in Japan

Mixi August 26, 2021 | 09:51

Japan is known around the world as a safe, polite and conservative island country that has brought the world sushi, sumo and green tea, as well as uncommon services.

Weirdest services in Japan! Photo: Mixi's

Japan is famous for its ease, everything in Japan can be solved in a simple but sometimes strange way. Of course, not everything is automatic as some might imagine, sometimes people are hired to do strange things and services that we don't imagine.

In this article, we will see 10 strange services that exist in Japan and that you didn't even know existed.

The list of top 10 weirdest services in Japan

1. Apologizing Service

2. Keeping Ex-Lover’s Moments Service

3. Fake friend- Rental of friends

4. Solo wedding service

5. Bare Thigh Advertising Space

6. Rent a Foreigner

7. Clear sumo wrestler's butt

8. Wedding Guest Service

9. Summer Homework Service

10. Cuddle Cafe

What are the top 10 weirdest services in Japan?

1. Apologizing Service

If you feel reluctant to apologize to people because you cannot stand the torture of guilt, this service from Japan will help you. You don’t have to say sorry by yourself anymore, because the agency will speak on your behalf! Just sit leisurely at home and wait for the result!

These are some of the agencies which offer apologizing services. Shazaiya Aiga Pro charges 25,000 yen (US$240) for face-to-face apology and 10,000 yen ($96) for email or phone apology. It’s quite expensive, but who cares if you can save the trouble of asking for an apology? Good news, this agency opens 24/7. Meanwhile, Yokohama Benriya Natchan offers a special service to apologize while crying to calm angry and scary people down. On the other hand, Nihon Shazai Daikokao gives another way of payment, which it charges 3,500 yen ($33) per hour. There is a case when apologizing takes up such a long duration, so it is probably why the per hour payment exists.

2. Keeping Ex-Lover’s Moments Service

Photo: ANIBEE.TV

You just got a new lover and forgot to put your ex-lover’s things away? Don’t worry, just give Terrada Warehouse a call. It is willing to save your ex-lover’s stuff – gifts, photos, or love letters – for you, of course if you are agree to pay for the storage service.

Miniku Love, a new service launched by Terrada, is ready to store the memories of your ex lover. You only need to pay 250 yen ($2.45) for a cardboard box with 30 items capacity and add another 250 yen monthly for the storage fee. What is more, you can have a professional voice actor to record your love letters for another 4,200 yen ($41.25) per letter. This service will give you a CD with the recording included. Just like an idol album CD, an original cover jacket is even provided for the CD. The thing is, the CD will be kept in the storage, so you cannot listen to them. If you wished to listen to it, though, you will have to pay for another 800 yen ($7.85). Unfortunately, there is an exception to Miniku Love service, the company will not store precious things like gold ring, plants or animals.

3. Fake friend- Rental of friends

In Japan there are sites where you can hire a friend or even a girlfriend (the) of lies. why do that? Some are lonely and want to make a good impression, and instead of making friends they pay to have company, take pictures and go out. Some say they charge about 8,000 yen for 2 hours of service.

4. Solo wedding service

Photo: Tokyo Weekender

Girls who want to get married but cannot find a spouse, can hire a fake wedding service and alone with the right to dress, makeup, ceremony and even honeymoon. In addition to this service, there is also another service where people can hireinvited to a wedding.

5. Bare Thigh Advertising Space

Looking for a brand new technique in advertising your company’s product or service that will attract more customers? This service might help you with its quite bizzare method. Now, you may stick your advertising stickers on young ladies’ bare legs – which lies between their mini-skirt and high socks – and these girls will walk to advertise your service or product to people they pass with.

A Japanese PR company, Absolute Territory PR, has paid plenty of young woman to promote clients’ advertisement through their thighs. Interestingly, there are a lot of girls apply for having their legs stamped with stickers. These applicants should be at least 18 years old, and they are required to have a social media account with at least 20 people in contacts.

6. Rent a Foreigner

Photo: Envato Elements

It seems that we already have enough amount of people rental in this list. Brace yourself, we have another rental that is not as weird as it sounds. Gaikokujin Rental – which means Foreigner Rental – exists to provide foreigner for rent in Japan only for 2000 to 4500 yen. Being entirely different from other people rentals, this rent-a-foreigner service has educational purposes.

7. Clear sumo wrestler's butt

There are reports that a sumo wrestler cannot clean his buttocks, so people are hired to do this. This is a legend that circulates in Japan, we do not know of its veracity, but sumo wrestlers do have helpers.

8. Wedding Guest Service

Photo: Japan Travel Centre

Wedding is seen as a sacred event attended by as many family member and colleagues as possible. If you don’t have that many people to attend your wedding, though, this service offers fake guests to comply with your guests list.

Office Agents, a company that rents out fake guests at your wedding, charges 20,000 yen ($200) for a staff member disguising as a guest. If you want this fake guest to do additional work, though, you must pay more. The guest will perform a song or a dance for another 5,000 yen. If you add up another 10,000 yen, the fake guest will make you proud by giving a speech in front of the other guests.

9. Summer Homework Service

A lot of children in Japanese struggle with piling up summer assignments which bring utter chaos right before the fall semester begins. To cope with the problem and avoid parents’ scoldings, summer homework service comes into surface as a very promising business. You don’t need to do your homework by yourself anymore. Just call the company, and get any assignment done by professionals.

Surprisingly, the service grows popularity fast among students. Parents even deliberately take advantage of the service to save the trouble of helping their children. Even so, a lot of good society members complain about the bad impact of using the service.

10. Cuddle Cafe

Photo: Favim

Soine-ya, which literally means ‘sleep together shop’, offers service to cuddle with young women you do not know without any strings attached. It charges you for about 6,000 yen ($77) per hour to sleep comfortably with a stranger. Of course, there will be additional fee for extra time if you haven’t feel satisfied yet with only holding the woman for an hour. Soine-ya also gives option to pick the girl you want to sleep with. Just add another 1,500 yen ($19.50) and you can take the girl to the room.

Japan’s service is excellent

Japan’s service is unlike any other country and prides itself on providing efficient, professional and courteous service.

Service in Japan extends further than just greeting customers and meeting their needs. Starting from the appearance, many companies, department stores, restaurants, hotels and offices require strict uniform, hair and make-up rules. Image and first impressions are quite important in Japanese culture so staff must present their best self upon first meeting.

Language is also different as there are levels of politeness in the Japanese language. Keigo, which is extremely polite Japanese, is used when speaking to customers. Staff also memorize and use set phrases in polite Japanese for different situations, according to worldnomads.

Staff are also required to bow and work as quickly as possible to meet the needs of the customers and will go out of their way to ensure a customer has a positive experience. If there is a question or special request from the customer, staff are required to do their best to find, research or answer the question to the customer’s satisfaction.