Japan’s Rent-a-Family Industry newyorker.com

The rental wife called him Kazu, just as his real wife had, and tossed her head to shake back her hair.
“She was acting as a rental daughter, but at the same time she was telling me how she felt as a real daughter,” he said.
I found myself telling the rental mother about the meditation app on my phone, and asking if she liked to meditate.
“I guess I’ll just be a few lines,” she said, and I suddenly started to feel guilty about my rental mother.
“It’s not necessarily the case that the real family is the best thing that happens.” Eventually, she got up to leave.