I've lived in Japan for nearly a decade and never heard of anything like it. However it seems legit: domain name was registered in 2012 with a Japanese registrar and was renewed in 2015. The company (from their website) claims to have operated since 2010.

It's worth noting that most Japanese people would find this a pretty weird thing, I think -- it's not normal. I can't imagine that it would actually work out well if you got found out.

It's fairly common to rent people for commercial purposes; the term is サクラ (i.e. a shill, basically). While I don't hear about renting people to imitate personal relationships, I wouldn't be surprised if it was more commonplace than it appears.

Living in Japan for many years and i've literally never heard of anything like this. And it's important to bear in mind that there's a notable tendency for non-Japanese-media to play up the perceived weirdness/wackiness of Japan, particularly when it matches their established narrative (overworking, low birth rate, obsession with 'cute' things, &c &c)

On the other hand my particular social bubble is inherently biased so it could well be this happens all the time and I have no idea.

It is real. It has been featured on several national Japanese TV shows, the site has been maintained since 2012

Another commenter posted that the company is listed as "Established April 1 2009" but that is likely just for financial reasons, as April 1st is the start of the financial year.

That said, while the company is real I don't think it is common or in widespread use. I've never had a conversation about such a company or heard of anyone ever using one in the past few years in Japan. Remember, the media often likes to play up the "Weird Japan" angle.

(Of course, if they were doing their job perfectly then we would never know about it...)

They do have to get clients somehow.

Having been living in Japan for 4 years, i doubt this is fake. Loneliness is huge problems in Japan, you just can't become friends with stranger

If loneliness is a huge problem why don’t people become friends with strangers more often?

If they could do that then loneliness obviously wouldn't be a problem.

Would a 1.9m blond bloke find a role or would be considered too foreign? Few gigs would help with travel budget.

Very possibly the opposite! Companies will hire westerners to pose (like, literally stand and smile and nothing else) as C-level execs because having foreign execs correlates with a successful international business and thus looks good to potential partners and the like.

I thought that was more common in mainland China than in Japan. Rent-a-gweilo executive impersonation services.

I believe this is real, though I've not confirmed this outside of links here on HN.

My first exposure to this phenomenon was in March of 2016 right here on HN. [0] The linked article there was more in the vein of journalistic confession/reportage and like this linked article, it is a fantastic read. [1]

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11359641

[1] http://www.afar.com/magazine/the-incredibly-true-story-of-re...

It's fake IMO. The story is probably real but the implication that this is a crazy Japanese thing or that it is common is fake, just like most stereotypes about Japan. Want to see cosplayers? There's way more in the west than Japan. Want to see people dying their hair colors like anime characters? That's a western thing, not a Japanese thing.

The article is about a single company not nationwide trend.

Let me also add that coming from the USA I wasn't familiar with paying for companionship except for the idea of escorts which I've never hired and had mostly been led to believe were just fronts for prostitution.

After leaving the USA I found may countries, including Japan, have host/hostess clubs where you pay to have someone to talk (and flirt) with you. They exist in many countries, not just Japan, nor just Asia. I talked to Ukrainian hostesses in Turkey. My point is paying for companionship is common in much of the world.

Not really. You have westerners taking advantage of the "fake <whatever>" as well.

see:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/05/everyth...

I also would like to see some corroboration. Like, really.

Halfway through I can't avoid thinking the same - this really reads like an enhanced dystopian version of what may happen in the future.

if you translate this page: http://family-romance.com/index.html

you'll find "establishment: april 1, 2009"

i think this is well written fiction

The fiscal year in Japan starts April 1st. This is not fiction, there is several companies in Japan providing such services. Source: lived in Japan 8 years and currently living there, I've seen advertisements for these services several times.

Almost everything the media writes about japan is exaggerated clickbait. This is true of all "exotic" cultures ( china, india, middle east, africa, mexico, etc ) but for some reason, it's especially true of japan. It's a form of cultural/racial fetishism.

Other countries do that with us too. Foreigners think that all americans carry guns, wave flags and settle disputes with a duel.

The media latches on to a fringe subculture in japan and then paints it as the norm. It would be like japanese media finding some fringe culture like furries and then making it seem like all americans are furries.

Are we (Mexico) exotic for the USA? Honest question.

Not for me, at least. I would imagine that's not the case for most people, but then again I've found my judgment to be less than 100% accurate (shocking, I know).