January 10, 2002

4:22 PM

Breakup businesses in JapanI wouldn't be surprised is this became a television show in Japan. Best line: "Men can always be seduced if the woman operative is reasonably good-looking," says Hiwatashi. "That's an absolute. Men are basically simpletons."
posted by zinegurl (9 comments total)

The article is just chock-full of quotable material:

"If this wasn't my business, I'd consider a lot of what we do immoral."

"We need to see how serious they are before we destroy people's normal lives and emotional ties."

"Most Japanese women like rich, tall, handsome guys, so it's easy to seduce them away."
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:45 PM on January 10, 2002

To prove the FPP quote wrong, I would like to issue a challenge for any women who think they can seduce me:

Bring it on.

...

Please?
posted by whatnotever at 5:18 PM on January 10, 2002

Cool article, by the way.
posted by whatnotever at 5:24 PM on January 10, 2002

This is your service economy, taken to the higher level. All we can come up with is something like the 'personal coach', which is kind of like having Norman Vincent Peale come over to your house to make you do pushups, in the reality-reshaping field. These Japanese companies act not on you, but on the environment of those around you, to get you what you want. An amazing idea, but kind of scary.
posted by crunchburger at 5:58 PM on January 10, 2002

On the other side of the coin, Koreans have some issues getting together in the first place, hence the booking club.

A friend has been to one in SF and assures me it's exactly how it's written.
posted by Mrmuhnrmuh at 6:50 PM on January 10, 2002

There has been a TV show in Japan with a similar concept to this for more than 2 years called London Hearts. Here is the best description I could find on the web:

In this segment, men who suspect their girlfriends of infidelity apply to the show to have their girlfriends tested by The Stinger, an irresistably handsome man who will try to pick up their girlfriend and take her back to his apartment. First the suspicious boyfriend makes a date with his girlfriend, and then calls to cancel it at the last minute. Practically as soon as he has hung up the phone, The Stinger appears, and tries to pick up his girlfriend. They go out somewhere, usually a restaurant, and thanks to the miracle of modern surveillance technology, the audience and the boyfriend can see and hear everything. The London Boots guys sit with the suffering man in The Stinger's apartment and tease him relentlessly, minutely analysing the girls every action and speculating about whether or not she will accept The Stinger's inevitable invitation to go back to his place. At the end of the segment, the camera focuses on the door, and the audience and the boyfriend breathlessly wait to see whether the stinger will be alone or with the girlfriend.

posted by Neb at 7:00 PM on January 10, 2002

both shows sound like they'd be great for reinforcing my don't-like-people philosophy, but i know i'd watch them anyway... or maybe not. i got frustrated from watching just ten minutes of temptation island.
posted by lotsofno at 7:07 PM on January 10, 2002

mr_crash, I was thinking exactly the same thing as I read the story. Holy cow.

There was also a Lives piece (those one-pagers on the last inside page) in the NY Times magazine, maybe a year ago, about a woman who, for a fee, would "test" other women's significant others -- approach them, flirt, see how far they'd go -- to see if they were faithful. It's scary that there's so much demand for services like these.

(What's described here is much worse, though.)
posted by mattpfeff at 8:44 PM on January 10, 2002

A couple of weeks ago the TV version of TVGoHome included a satirical gameshow where a beautiful stooge seduces a sad geek-type who has obviously never had a girlfriend, with the object of making him express his love for her. It seems the Japanese are capable of taking satire to entirely new levels.
posted by salmacis at 5:35 AM on January 11, 2002