Companionship is big business and an industry in Japan composed mainly of rental family agencies. 

Among such agencies is the Heart Project, founded by Ryuichi Ichinokawa. It rents out actors as surrogate family members to persons who need them for personal and social occasions.

Ichinokawa himself, for example, posed as a boyfriend to a woman who needed to discuss legal paperwork with her former spouse, and had acted as a husband to a woman getting fertility treatments, he told Mainichi Japan (MJ). 

He also organized visits to a bar for a hostess who wanted to impress her employer with her large clientele, according to MJ. 

The patronage of rental family services highlights the prevalence of Japanese experiencing loneliness and the high demand for comfort or healing for those feeling low, reports MJ. 

Meanwhile, a South Korean eatery with a divergent policy on “lonely” customers went viral for its controversial sign. 

A customer of the noodle restaurant in Yeosu City, South Jeolla province posted last 17 November on social media a photo of the sign telling solo diners they must choose from four options before they can be served. 

One, the customer can pay for two servings. Two, he or she can eat two servings. Option three is to call a friend, and the last option is to “come back with your wife next time,” South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. 

Below the options is the eatery’s slogan: We don’t sell loneliness. Please don’t come alone.

Solo diners are called honbap customers in South Korea and their seemingly rising numbers is driven by the preference to stay single, according to SCMP.