{"id":10365,"date":"2026-08-09T10:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T10:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=10365"},"modified":"2026-08-09T10:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T10:09:23","slug":"rent-a-dad-japan-woman-tries-rent-a-dad-in-japan-for-the-first-time-i-kind-of-felt-like-a-daughter-and-saying-goodbye-was-harder-than-i-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=10365","title":{"rendered":"Rent A Dad Japan: Woman tries \u2018rent a dad\u2019 in Japan: \u2018For the first time I kind of felt like a daughter, and saying goodbye was harder than I expected\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133064985,imgsize-339846,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg\" alt=\"Woman tries \u2018rent a dad\u2019 in Japan: \u2018For the first time I kind of felt like a daughter, and saying goodbye was harder than I expected\u2019\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many would argue that money cannot buy happiness, but Anna Malygon would beg to differ. Money can sometimes bring the kind of joy that one would never expect to find in a transaction.<!-- --> The 23-year-old model and fashion influencer from Kharkiv, Ukraine, currently based in LA, decided to rent a dad while she was in Japan. What started as an attempt to make a viral video transformed into something else. The experimental experience turned out to be one of the best moments of her life. She felt a real connection that also made 5.3 million people stop scrolling and actually feel something. She felt like a daughter. <!-- -->\u201cSaying goodbye was harder than I expected.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><strong>The \u2018rent a dad\u2019 experience in Japan<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Japan is living in the future, not just in terms of technology and infrastructure, but also in how it redefines human connection. The rental companion industry is booming, and it is no secret that you can rent a boyfriend, girlfriend, or even a parent in Japan. It is absolutely legal, platonic, and regulated. Japan\u2019s rental family services emerged in the early 1990s, born from a specific kind of pain. The country was filled with people who had been given everything except what mattered most: actual connection.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>While Anna Malygon was in Japan navigating the streets alone, she thought having a guardian figure would be nice. That\u2019s how she ended up \u2018renting a dad\u2019 in Japan. She documented the experience, and it has received over 5.3 million hits on Instagram since then.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><strong>How an experiment turned into actual connection<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component iIpbx undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Influencer rents a \u2018dad\u2019 in Japan\" msid=\"133064985\" width=\"\" title=\"\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" imgsize=\"\" resizemode=\"4\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-133064985\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When Malygon decided to rent a dad, she was only looking for a companion to beat the boredom. <!-- -->But soon, it started to feel real.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>\u201cI\u2019m in Japan, I\u2019m bored, and I decided to rent a dad. In Japan you can rent almost anyone, a friend, a boyfriend, and even a dad,\u201d the woman said in the viral video.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>Upon meeting, the \u2018rental dad\u2019 asked, \u201cHow\u2019s your school going?\u201d She responded that she had graduated five years earlier. The \u2018dad\u2019 apologised and asked her if it was okay if he got a beer. She approved and asked if she could have one. <!-- -->The dad\u2019s response mirrored a real parent\u2019s: \u201cNo, too young,\u201d he said, and instead ordered her an ice cream.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>The dad also got her a gift, a steamer. As they roamed the city, she opened up about her real life. She told him about not having a father in her life while growing up. \u201cI didn\u2019t really have my dad when I was growing up, so\u2026\u201d she said. The rental dad said the real one was a \u2018loser\u2019 for not having this daughter.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>What started as a bit for content became real. Somewhere between the ice cream and the gift, Anna felt something click. <!-- -->She wasn\u2019t performing any more. \u201cI thought it would be just a funny video, but along the way it started feeling real,\u201d the woman confessed.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"32\"\/>When she told the man she was feeling chills, he even offered his jacket. \u201cOh, are you cold? Are you all right?\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"35\"\/>She felt the connection, and it was real. \u201cFor the first time I kind of felt like a daughter.\u201d When it came time to say goodbye, her tears weren\u2019t staged. Neither were his. \u201cAnd honestly, saying goodbye was harder than I expected,\u201d she said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>The man also acknowledged that he had never had a daughter. \u201cI\u2019m so happy today,\u201d he added.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"40\"\/>The connection felt real; she enjoyed her \u2018rent a dad\u2019 experience, but will she be up for another? It turns out she is. And she would do it without a second thought. \u201cThankfully, I have infinite money, so I can just rent him every day,\u201d the woman said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"42\"\/>There are services like Family Romance, which employ over 1,200 actors who fill roles from stand-in fathers for weddings to missing dads and long-lost sons. It sounds dystopian when you put it that way. But zoom in on the individual moment, and it\u2019s just two people, one of whom desperately needed to feel seen, and the other could simply fulfil it.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/life-style\/travel\/news\/woman-tries-rent-a-dad-in-japan-for-the-first-time-i-kind-of-felt-like-a-daughter-and-saying-goodbye-was-harder-than-i-expected\/articleshow\/133064973.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many would argue that money cannot buy happiness, but Anna Malygon would beg to differ. Money can sometimes bring the kind of joy that one would never expect to find in a transaction. The 23-year-old model and fashion influencer from Kharkiv, Ukraine, currently based in LA, decided to rent a dad while she was in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Many would argue that money cannot buy happiness, but Anna Malygon would beg to differ. Money can sometimes bring the kind of joy that one would never expect to find in a transaction. The 23-year-old model and fashion influencer from Kharkiv, Ukraine, currently based in LA, decided to rent a dad while she was in [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":2,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":4,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/influencer-rents-a-dad-in-japan.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}