Episode 2: How Japan Sells Emotional Comfort for the Lonely

In this episode, Keigo Furnival delves into the unusual ways loneliness is managed in Japan. From animal cafés and idol culture to rent-a-companions and emotional services, where comfort is often carefully performed rather than openly spoken. It explores how a society shaped by emotional restraint and social pressure has developed entire industries that soften isolation without directly addressing it, and why so many people turn to controlled fantasy just to feel understood for a while.