- [Narrator] There are
odd jobs the world over. Water slide testers, pet psychologists, professional armpit smellers, you name it. There is no shortage of
weird and wonderful ways to make a buck or two. But these pale in significance when compared to some of
the jobs on offer in Japan, a nation whose unique culture provides some equally unique
employment opportunities from bizarre cosmetic surgeons
to professional crying boys here are 10 of the strangest jobs that could only exist in Japan. - Amazing. - [Narrator] Number 10, Rent an Uncle The Ossan Rental service was founded in 2012 by Takanobu Nishimoto. As a man of 50 himself, he hadn't realized how little respect middle aged men had as a social group in Japan. But then he overheard
a group of young girls laughing at a man's hairy
ears on a commuter train. He thought, I need to
regain the honor of Ossan, that's middle-aged men, and prove they still have
their uses in today's society. The Japanese image of masculinity has been tested a number
of times in recent history. First with their soldiers being defeated in the Second World War, then with their sharply
dressed businessmen losing their jobs in a
series of economic crashes. According to Nishimoto, the
Ossan are now being portrayed in popular culture as backward,
stodgy and uninteresting. Whether this start-up
business can increase the Ossan's social standing is
a tricky question to answer. But Nishimoto himself has been
rented out by 5,000 clients since starting the service
and on his database he no has over 80 uncles
in over 36 cities. Eight out of 10 times these
uncles are rented by women. 30% of these are just
after some manual lifting, whilst the other 70% want
advice or emotional support from someone they won't have
to meet at family functions. All for only 1,000 yen an
hour, that's about nine bucks. Sounds like a bargain. Number nine, Bad Odor Regulator. For most people, bad smells are considered just part and parcel of everyday life. Unpleasant, sure but often unavoidable. But the Japanese do things differently, and even have a law against bad smells. People are forbidden to annoy
others with offensive odors, whether they're from
cooking food, keeping pets, or bodily functions. Basically, whatever you're doing, if your neighbor thinks it
smells you might get a visit from your local olfactory
measurement operator, that is the smell police. And this is no minor thing. Anyone discovered to be breaking the law risks a prison sentence of up to a year or a 500,000 yen fine, about $4,500. Bad odor regulators can
earn up to $48,000 a year after a rigorous review process to ensure they have a normal sense of smell. This involves sniffing
five different chemicals containing the odors of
everything from rose petals to, well, human excrement. Each person is given five strips. Two have been dipped in
smells and the other three have been dipped in an odorless paraffin. They then sniff out the smells and are given a score
according to strict guidelines. Those with the most
sensitive noses get the job! Number eight, Professional Apologizer. Who enjoys saying sorry? In the United States, an
apology isn't an apology if a person's secretary sends flowers. But then again we might also
just brush the incident off if we know the person didn't mean it. But apologies work differently in Japan. In fact, the Japanese often apologize without even seeking
forgiveness, just to be polite. The Japanese believe
that a harmonious society puts others needs above
that of the individual and that every action
has a knock-on effect on those around them. But it goes deeper still. Japan has a rich cultural history which remembers the Samurai and the strength of
character an apology shows. Thanks to their complicated language, there are many different ways to apologize depending on the circumstances and using the wrong verb
or pronoun in a situation can be downright rude. But fear not, you can pay
someone to say sorry for you! Shazaiya Aiga charges
25,000 yen, about $230, for a face to face apology
and 10,000 yen, $92, for an email or phone apology. Some agencies offer a range of services, including an apology whilst crying which is particularly effective against angry people apparently. It still feels like a bunch of flowers brought by someone's
secretary to me though. Number seven, Subway Pusher. A subway pusher is probably the most well-known odd job in Japan. Their transport system is world famous for its punctuality and capacity with eight million people
travelling by subway every day. This many people on the move creates plenty of jobs for Oshiya, train station attendants
who literally push people into packed trains with
their trademark white gloves. As the train prepares to leave, the oshiya hold back as passengers
squeeze through the doors of the packed train carriages. Then, up to four of these
subway pushers shove, in a professional manner, of course, another 10 or so passengers down inside the already packed train. Although out of fashion by the 1920s this job actually came over from America where the staff were
nicknamed sardine packers. But it's now the Japanese
that have their faces uncomfortably squeezed up
against the window panes. I think I might just take the bus. Number six, Rent a Homeless Man. Homeless celebrity Kotani Makoto
is one of his kind for now. The failing comedian had
been staying with friends but made for a messy house mate. So, he became intentionally
homeless with the idea of cashing in on Japan's
huge human rental market. He was soon booked out
thanks to his personality despite describing himself as
unreliable, sloppy and lazy. Makoto offers help with
chores or will entertain you for just 50 yen, or 45 cents, a day. He has 2,142 followers on Instagram, and is often taken to fine
restaurants and shows, with one client even flying him to Vietnam so he could report back on
whether it was more or less humid than his home country. Number five, Fake Wedding Guest. In Japan, people usually see weddings as formal events that should be attended by as many friends and family as possible. Many would expect a
boss to say a few words and for other guests to
take part in festivities. But what if the bride or
groom isn't very popular? And what if you don't have a boss in today's freelance economy? Or perhaps it's your second wedding and you don't want to
invite the same guests? The answer is just invite fake ones. One company has 1,000
guests on their books and provides them for 100 weddings a year. It only costs 20,000 yen, about $200, for someone to attend your ceremony, and then for an additional 5,000 yen that person can perform a song or dance. For a further 10,000 yen
you can even have them read a speech to bring a tear
to your mother-in-law's eye. Number four, Banishment Room Worker. While not restricted to Japan, the Japanese have social
and legal constraints making it particularly
hard to fire an employee. Their tradition of lifetime employment means underperforming employees get sent to a boredom room instead. This punishment means they're
forced to perform menial tasks until they become so
despondent they choose to quit. These banishment rooms are
often dark, windowless basements and the tasks reportedly include staring at a screen for 10 hours looking for irregularities
in TV programming and making reports on the
contents of newspapers. And this is not a fringe thing. Panasonic admitted that
they have 468 workers in such departments, and while Hitachi, Sony and
Toshiba admit to the practice they're not keen to disclose numbers. There's a fine line between this and the constructive dismissals that companies in western countries have been known to adopt. Number three, Master Chicken Sexer. Correctly identifying the sex
of one-day old baby chickens can bring down the cost of
the egg industry in a big way. The sad truth of modern agriculture is that male chicks are
pretty much worthless, and usually just end up as dog food. So, there's little point wasting
money feeding male chicks when they're just destined
for the meat grinder. By separating male and female chickens, you can destroy the men at
birth and focus your investment on the more profitable egg-laying hens. Delicious but kind of depressing, too. Turns out sexing chickens is no easy task. Their genitalia, called vents
look pretty much identical. A novice sexer basically
has a 50:50 chance of getting it right. Not ideal! With practice and help from
a more experienced colleague, students gradually learn how
to intuitively differentiate between male and female chicks. Now this process is still
shrouded in mystery, but Japanese chicken sexers
can do it with 98% accuracy, at the rate of a thousand chicks an hour. Japan soon became the world
leaders in chicken sexing and have been exporting their
craft to the West since 1935. At that time Americans were only able to correctly decide the
sex of 65% of birds, and at a poxy rate of 400 birds an hour. A Japanese chicken sexer has always come with a good pay packet and
lots of business trips, but the job is still in the decline. The youth of today want
to live in the city and don't find the prospect of
fiddling around with chickens all that appealing. Surprising really, considering the salary can be up to 90 cents a
chick, or $15,000 a month. Hopefully those high
wages will reinvigorate the mysterious and intuitive
art of Japanese chicken sexing. Number two, Handsome Weeping Boy. Still think boys don't cry? Well I've got news for you, tough guys. It's the 21st century and
you can cry all you want. In fact, in Japan, you can
even hire a handsome boy to sit and cry with you. He'll wipe your tears away with a napkin and offer you some comforting words. I mean, if you're going to cry, you might as well do it properly, and there's a whole industry in Japan dedicated to helping you do just that. A recent poll of 38 countries
found that Japanese people are the least likely to cry, mainly because of the
cultural stigma around it. This is a shame, because
crying has been proven to remove hormones and toxins that build up in the body
as a result of stress. Yes, crying is good for you,
mentally and physically. Hence the marketplace for
these handsome weeping boys. Ceremonies are important in Japan too, whether it's weddings or funerals, so the services of a weeping boy can add real atmosphere to your event. Handsome weeping boys are
paid around $55 a session and are often booked by companies
to help relieve the stress among Japan's overworked office workers. I guess it makes a change
from team building exercises! Number one, Bagel Head Injector. Now, don't be fooled into thinking this is a mainstream craze. It isn't. Many Japanese people will never have heard of this bizarre profession. But, in the extreme Japanese fetish scene, some people derive a strange pleasure from injecting saline
fluid into their foreheads, and sometimes other body parts
that I won't mention now. This strange practice
involves attaching a drip into a person's forehead for a few hours, which slowly fills the space between the skin and
the skull with liquid. Once it's full up, the bagel head injector will press his or her thumb
into the center of the lump, creating a bagel-shaped
thing on the person's head. The saline fluid is safely
absorbed by the body over the course of the next day or so, so it's a harmless party trick really, albeit an exceedingly weird one. A bagel head injector is basically a type of specialist tattoo artist, so can earn around 34 million
yen or $30,000 a year. Part of me wants to ask why, but then again there's not much
point because, well, Japan. So, there we have it, the
weirdest jobs on offer in the land of the rising sun. That bagel head thing really
takes the biscuit, right? Or should I say bagel? Anyway, let me know which
one of these you think is the weirdest in the
comments section down below, and thanks for watching! (soft music)
