The ‘handsome weeping boys’ paid to wipe away your tears
Japanese companies hire people to make staff cry
Employees watch sad films while a “handsome weeping boy” wipes away their tears It is supposed to help people bond There are about 10 of us sitting in a conference room in an office block in Tokyo and a man has just put on a selection of film clips. As the music blares from tinny-sounding speakers, a heart-rending story about a deaf man and his daughter begins. The daughter is struck down with a terrible illness and is rushed to hospital. The man, unable to communicate that he is her father, is not allowed past the reception desk. The film ends with him crying inconsolably as she dies alone. As the second film – about a fatally ill dog – starts, I hear a muffled sob from t… Continue Reading