日本流行租借"朋友"
Japanese couples, too busy for a normal social life, are increasingly turning to actors to play their friends on the most important days of their lives.
Several agencies have sprung up offering actors to attend weddings or even funerals. The first guest-for-hire company was established about nine years ago and around 10 now send out dozens of pretend friends to family events.
Agencies such as Hagemashi Tai - which means "I want to cheer you up" - charge around £100 for each "guest". Other services such as giving a speech in praise of a bride or the groom cost extra.
The emergence of the small fake friends industry has been linked to social and economic changes in Japan. With lifetime employment a thing of the past, couples feel uncomfortable about inviting work colleagues to their wedding. Increasingly busy and put upon, many Japanese surround themselves with only a very small circle of friends.
When they marry, however, they are under pressure to match the number of their new partner's wedding guests.
Office Agents, the largest provider of pretend friends, makes sure that its employees have done their homework and know all about the bride or groom before the wedding.
Hiroshi Mizutani, the company's founder, said the fake friends he provides must look happy, be well dressed and look like people with good jobs.
如今，越來越多忙於工作而沒時間進行正常社交的日本夫婦們常常在重要的日子租賃演員來假扮自己的朋友。
日本國內涌現出幾家提供參加婚禮甚至葬禮的演員的公司。日本首家“租友”公司創辦於約九年前，目前約有10家機構爲家庭活動提供假朋友服務。
像Hagemashi Tai（意爲“我想讓你開心“）這樣的公司每提供一位朋友收費100英鎊。若要提供其它服務如致辭讚美新郎或新娘需額外收費。
小型“租友”行業的興起與日本的社會經濟變化密不可分。隨着終身僱傭成爲歷史，人們越來越不情願邀請同事來參加自己的婚禮。由於工作越來越忙，壓力越來越大，很多日本人的朋友圈都很小。
但在結婚的時候，又不能讓自己這邊的賓客比對方少。
規模最大的租友公司“辦公代理公司“要求其僱員在參加婚禮前做足功課，做到對新娘或新郎的情況瞭如指掌。
該公司的創建者弘水谷稱，他的公司提供的假扮朋友看上去一定要開心，穿着得體，讓人一看就是個工作體面的人。
Vocabulary:
spring up:涌現
lifetime employment: 終身僱傭制，是日本企業戰後的基本用人制度，指從各類學校畢業的求職者，一經企業正式錄用直到退休始終在同一企業工作。
done their homework: 做必要的準備工作
