Super Terrific Japanese Thing: Soine-Ya

From Kotaku:
The latest business to make a splash in Japan’s nerdom is always patrons to sleep with ladies. That’s it, apparently. Just sleep. Um.
Located in Akihabara, it’s called Soine-ya; “soine” (添い寝) means “sleeping together”, and “ya” (屋) means “shop”. The business’s concept, however, isn’t originally Japanese as website IT Media claims the idea was based on a similar business in New York. It’s apparently the first of its kind in Japan.

Soine-ya is not cheap. After shelling out ¥3,000 (US$39) in membership charges, 20 minutes of “together” sleep costs another ¥3,000, while six hours can reach ¥30,000 (US$386). That’s not even a full night’s rest!

The nickel-and-diming, though, is mind-boggling. For example, customers must pay ¥1,000 ($13) to have the lady resting her hand on their arm for three minutes, while gazing at each other for one minute costs another ¥1,000. If you want to put your head on the lady’s lap, it’s three minutes for, well, ¥1,000.You know, my initial reaction was one of bewilderment, of course, but the more I think about the more I think this is excrutiatingly sad. These people aren’t perverts — there are plenty of people they could pay to have sex with in a variety of sleep-related scenarios, if they so chose. These are people who are so lonely and starved for affection that they’re willing to hire someone to sleep next to them — and there are people sociopathic that there willing to turn that service into a commodity. It’s all just really, really sad on pretty much every level.Kind of wish I’d posted a terrifying sex toy instead, don’t you?