A cool new service in Japan is meant to help busy career women cope with the stress of their hectic lifestyles. For about 7,900 yen ($65), they can hire ‘Ikemeso’ – cute men – to wipe away their tears, quite literally!
Here’s how it works: You call the company and pick one of seven Ikemeso, who will then arrive at your workplace to help you release stress through crying. If you’re in tears already, the licensed “crying therapist” will simply wipe your tears away with the softest handkerchief and comfort you with kind words. If work-related stress hasn’t pushed you to tears yet, the Ikemeso will play an emotional film meant to induce crying. After the video is over, he’ll wipe your tears away.
There are different types of guys you can choose from, depending on your taste – the little brother, the intellectual, the bad boy, the slightly older hot guy, and more. The service is all set to launch on September 24.
According to Hiroki Terai, the creator of Ikemeso, “Japanese women are under tremendous stress at the office here in Tokyo, which often ends in tears. We are here to provide a kind word and brush the tears away by one of our seven lovely men on call.”
Some will undoubtedly find the whole idea sexist, but Terai claims that the company has been receiving queries non-stop ever since they launched the website last week. He also insists that the service is not a hoax. “More and more women are trying to hold down professional jobs these days but the male dominated, workaholic workforce makes it hard for them,” he said. “We want such put-upon women to have a good cry and feel better when they feel targeted.”
“Who doesn’t feel better after a big boo-hoo?”
The term Ikemeso is a word play that combines ikemen (hot guy) and mesomeso (crying). Oh, and peaking of ikemen, remember Shabani the handsome gorilla that used to drive Japanese women nuts?
For now, Ikemeso seem to only cater to stressed employees, but judging by the positive feedback the service has gotten even prior to its official launch, it’s fair to assume it will soon be more widely available.
It’s a bizarre service, to be sure, but not by Japanese standards. After all, we’re talking about the country that came up with strange ideas like a slow taxi service, a dress-rental business for men who want to feel like princesses or a rent-a-friend service, among many others.