You've heard of renting a video, or a car. But in Japan these days, a person can rent a family, reports Newhouse News Service.
An elderly couple, say, can hire a duaghter, son-in-law and grandchild for an afternoon.Cost of a three-hour visit: $1,100.
"It's difficult for real parents and children to face each other and talk," says a 36-year-old woman who rented a pretend family for her mother recently. "My mother told things to the rental family that she couldn't even tell her own daughter."
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Eighty-five clients are waiting for stand-in relatives provides by a Tokyo company, Nihon Kokasei Honbu (or Japan Effectiveness Center). President Satsuki Oiwa says she can't train surrogates fast enough to meet the demand.