Meet the boys who will make you cry, wipe your tears away - then charge you for it

Every quintessential rom-com has a scene in which the handsome male lead wipes the tears lovingly from our protagonist's eyes.

If you've ever wanted your own handsome leading man, you could go to Japan, where women are hiring beautiful men - referred to as 'Ikemeso Danshi' - to make them cry, and then to wipe away their tears.

Yes, you read that correctly.

AJ+ interviewed Tsukasa Chiba, one such 'courier', who said:

Our job is to go to companies or medical facilities to spread the good effects of crying.

The concept is called 'rui-katsu', or tear seeking, and a company making money out of it was founded by Hiroki Terai, a businessman who had been conducting unofficial divorce ceremonies to help 'cleanse' couples before they filed for divorce, Reuters reports.

He noticed the relief his clients exhibited after crying, and created Ikemeso Danshi (roughly translated to 'handsome weeping boys' ) as a way to relieve stress in the workplace.

The starting price for their services is 7,900 yen, which is roughly equivalent to £50. Men will make you cry by playing sad songs or movies, and then comfort you as you sob into their handkerchiefs (or in the photo above, apparently a notebook).

You can choose the type of man to wipe your tears: there's an 'intellectual', or a dentist's assistant, among others, although wiping your tears with a tooth brush may prove slightly problematic.

Interestingly, there hasn't been much of an outcry over the potentially sexist nature of the idea.

If you want to witness the peculiarity in all its glory check out the video below:

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