Couple-busters Offer 50 Ways to Say Sayonara to Your Lover
Breaking up is hard to do, or so they used to say. Now, however, Japanese people who tire of a lover or spouse can always call in the professionals. For around £65 an hour, the wakaresase-ya - or couple-buster agencies - will seduce or blackmail a troublesome partner into divorce or...
Breaking up is hard to do, or so they used to say. Now, however, Japanese people who tire of a lover or spouse can always call in the professionals.
For around £65 an hour, the wakaresase-ya - or couple-buster agencies - will seduce or blackmail a troublesome partner into divorce or separation. There are about a dozen such agencies listed on the internet, offering a discreet service said to appeal to wealthy Japanese keen to avoid initiating a messy split.
Their adverts are not subtle: "Does you husband mistreat you?", "Have you ever worried that your wife is sleeping with another man?" But the service is sophisticated. Office Shadow in Tokyo boasts it can arrange a sting, using up to a dozen operatives, that leaves the victim unaware of having been tricked into divorce or separation.
Using information supplied by a client about a target's tastes and habits, they will arrange a "chance" meeting with a fantasy seducer. Their operatives are chosen for their looks and smooth conversation: the women play air hostesses or bored housewives; the men appear as businessmen or film directors.
They are introduced at a party, or through charming apologies following an "accidentally" upturned cocktail glass. From there, it is a short step from flirtation to bed.
The agencies say men make the easiest targets, but overall they boast a 95% success rate.
For the simplest jobs, hidden microphones or cameras are used to collect evidence for divorce proceedings or to blackmail a partner into a break-up.
More complex operations - typically involving a high-profile figure - can take more than three months and cost up to £13,000. The business is a lucrative sideline for detective agencies who cater largely for women restrained by social conventions from taking the first step in a break-up.
The operators admit that destroying lives can take its toll. As Hiroshi Ito, who works for Office Shadow, confessed in a recent interview: "If this wasn't my business, I'd consider a lot of what we do immoral."
For around £65 an hour, the wakaresase-ya - or couple-buster agencies - will seduce or blackmail a troublesome partner into divorce or separation. There are about a dozen such agencies listed on the internet, offering a discreet service said to appeal to wealthy Japanese keen to avoid initiating a messy split.
Their adverts are not subtle: "Does you husband mistreat you?", "Have you ever worried that your wife is sleeping with another man?" But the service is sophisticated. Office Shadow in Tokyo boasts it can arrange a sting, using up to a dozen operatives, that leaves the victim unaware of having been tricked into divorce or separation.
Using information supplied by a client about a target's tastes and habits, they will arrange a "chance" meeting with a fantasy seducer. Their operatives are chosen for their looks and smooth conversation: the women play air hostesses or bored housewives; the men appear as businessmen or film directors.
They are introduced at a party, or through charming apologies following an "accidentally" upturned cocktail glass. From there, it is a short step from flirtation to bed.
The agencies say men make the easiest targets, but overall they boast a 95% success rate.
For the simplest jobs, hidden microphones or cameras are used to collect evidence for divorce proceedings or to blackmail a partner into a break-up.
More complex operations - typically involving a high-profile figure - can take more than three months and cost up to £13,000. The business is a lucrative sideline for detective agencies who cater largely for women restrained by social conventions from taking the first step in a break-up.
The operators admit that destroying lives can take its toll. As Hiroshi Ito, who works for Office Shadow, confessed in a recent interview: "If this wasn't my business, I'd consider a lot of what we do immoral."
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