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We rent a sister in Japan, act out sibling scenarios with frightening realness 【Video】

Oona McGee Dec 9, 2020
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Big sisters can be scary and make you do things you don’t want to do…even when you rent them.

Our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa has done a lot of things in his time, like getting hair transplants and serenading an anime voice actress while dressed as Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, but one thing he’s never been able to experience is the love — and wrath — of an older sister.

Having a macho brother to contend with has made Seiji experience pangs of jealousy whenever he heard his boss Yoshio and co-worker Go talk about spending time with their sisters. So when Big Sister Day came around on 6 December — yes, Japan has Big Sister Day, on the same day as St Nicholas Day in Europe, as it tells the tale of three sisters helped by Saint Nick — Seiji went to them with a proposition.

▼ “I want to rent a sister”.

It wasn’t the oddest request Yoshio and Go had heard in the office, so they patiently heard him out…before warning him that having an older sister might not be the dream he’s made it out to be. For Go, having a big sister involves a lot of errands, as she often asks him to buy sweets while he sits next to her watching her play games. As for Yoshio? His sister gets mad at him on the daily for eating her ice cream.

This all sounded lovely to Seiji, who only knows the company of a burly brother, and hearing their stories made him feel jealous all over again. So Seiji wasted no time in seeking out the services of the Family Romance company to make his dreams of having an older sister come true.

After discussing his desires frankly with the company, he was sent a photo of the woman who would become his older sister for an afternoon. While it’s not always possible to meet one-on-one with your rental family member, or rental girlfriend or boyfriend as they have these available too, it may be permitted if you submit sufficient identification materials to ensure their staff’s safety.

Having used Family Romance to rent a little sister several years back, Seiji was entrusted with a big sister who would be able to spend time with him in his apartment. So he set out to meet her in a public place, and when he spotted her, the sun was shining on her, making her look like the angel he imagined her to be.

Her name was Akari, and she had an aura that drew Seiji to her immediately, as if they’d already been brother and sister in a former life.

After greeting each other, they casually strolled back to Seiji’s apartment, and Akari asked him what kind of big sister he wanted. He ended up divulging the scenarios that Go and Yoshio had spoken of with their sisters, and Akari, like a true sister, immediately knew how to fill the big-sister-shaped hole in Seiji’s heart.

Seiji is a shy guy, who usually uses formal language when meeting someone for the first time, but since he was strolling with his sister, he tried his best to use more casual language. By the time they got back to his apartment, he felt comfortable enough with Akari to start acting like her little brother, and that meant…

▼ Stealing his sister’s ice cream.

This wasn’t just any old ice cream — it was a high-end expensive and luxurious crème brûlée treat, and it had Akari’s name written on it — literally.

Akari was immediately in character, entering through the front door as if she’d just returned home after having gone out to work for the day. Nothing makes big sis happier than eating ice cream after a tough day at work, so she went straight to the freezer, only to find…

▼ Her annoying little brother had eaten her ice cream!

Seiji denied eating her treat right up until the moment she found the remains of it in the trash, which only infuriated his sister even more. Akari was adamant that the only way her brother could right this wrong would be to go out and buy her another ice cream.

▼ And so he did.

Equally impressed and a little scared of Akari’s excellent acting abilities, Seiji decided to try out Go’s sister scenario, by playing video games with Akari at the kotatsu heated table.

Seiji was having a great time until Akari showed off her superb acting skills yet again, by snatching the controller off her younger brother.

Controller in hand, Akari started pining for sweets and snacks, prompting Seiji to pick up his backpack yet again for another trip to the store.

It was at this moment that Seiji came to understand Go’s comment that having an older sister meant running a lot of errands. Seiji had only been a little brother for a short time and already he was running to the store for his sister, when she was in a foul mood and when she was in a good mood too.

However, he didn’t really hate it, and he actually felt a sense of purpose to what he was doing. This must be true leadership, he thought. This must be…my sister!

After he’d returned home with beer and snacks, older sister was pleased. In fact, she said she felt like Seiji really was her younger brother.

▼ Sibling bonding complete!

As soon as she said that, Seiji felt even closer to her, and even more comfortable to sit back and relax at the kotatsu without feeling self-conscious.

Unfortunately for Seiji, Akari is not a forever sister, and her time with him eventually drew to a close. Like Cinderella, she would be disappearing from the ball that was Seiji’s crazy life, and he would forever be left holding her empty slipper.

They headed up to the rooftop to finish off their beers and wax lyrical over the memories they’d made together…like that time when Seiji went to the shops to buy her ice cream…and then that time when Seiji went to the store to buy her beer and snacks…

Take a look at the video of their afternoon together below:

As it turns out, Akari is a versatile actor who can play a variety of roles. Here she is as a lady admonishing her butler:

Akari’s sweet smile and contemptuous scowl will live on in Seiji’s memory forever. At the end of their time together, Seiji says the thing he enjoyed most about the experience was the friendly conversation, which was nothing like talking to other women, as it had a casual, everyday, unforced feeling to it.

Now that Seiji has experienced what it’s like to have a big sister, his resentment towards his colleagues with sisters has waned, and the experience was much better than he thought it would be. And now Seiji has a message to everyone out there: If you have a sister, let her know how much you appreciate her on Big Sister Day, and every day. You don’t know how lucky you are to have a forever sister…even if she does make you run errands!

Related: Family Romance
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