In Japan, a company sells tear-inducing services to emotionally repressed patrons.<\/b>
\nHiroki Terai, a successful Japanese businessman and author, was conducting research for a book about the country\u2019s rising divorce rate when he came to a startling conclusion. \u201cHe found that [many] Japanese women who were initiating divorces never got over the divorce,\u201d the filmmaker Darryl Thoms told The Atlantic. As Terai explained to Thoms, \u201cthe whole legal and practical process overwhelmed people so much that they didn\u2019t have a chance to emotionally deal with it\u2014and they never got around to crying.\u201d
Ever the entrepreneur, Terai saw an opportunity. \u201cThe business started to initially help women cry after that life-changing event,\u201d said Thoms. \u201cAfter that, Terai thought that perhaps more people could benefit from crying.\u201d
Terai\u2019s Tokyo-based company, Ikemeso Danshi \u2014which roughly translates to \u201cHandsome Weeping Boys\u201d\u2014provides cry-therapy services for those seeking a catharsis they feel unable to express in daily life. \u201cHe is selling the elation and lightness that is felt after a cry, similar to how people will go to the cinema for a tearjerker,\u201d explained Thoms. Japanese companies often hire Terai\u2019s team to make staff cry.
Thoms gained Terai\u2019s trust after a few meetings with the businessman. Eventually, Thoms was able to secure permission to film a crying session. In his short documentary Crying with the Handsome Man, the session leader, known as the \u201ctear courier,\u201d induces tears among a group of Japanese women by showing them an emotional film. When the film is over and the waterworks have subsided, the women say they feel calmer.
\u201cIn Japan, people do not usually express their emotions,\u201d says the tear courier in the film. In fact, Japanese are among the least likely of all nationalities to cry, according to a poll conducted by the International Study on Adult Crying. (Of the 37 nationalities polled, Americans were the most likely to shed tears.)
Thoms\u2019s intention with the film is \u201cto give some serious insight into Japanese society and the evolution of modern societies in general,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m interested in the modern approach of an instant fix\u2014that basically any problem can be alleviated by commerce.\u201d
Are crying sessions a uniquely Japanese phenomenon? Thoms doesn\u2019t think so. \u201cIn other cultures, with more virtual rather than [interpersonal] relationships, I think there will be an increasing need for this service,\u201d he said.
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A showcase of short films curated by The Atlantic<\/p>\n