Emotional crying is actually a uniquely human activity. There are a lot of suspected reasons why it happens, but many people believe that expressing emotion is cathartic and healthy. In Japan, entrepreneur Hiroki Terai has decided to turn it into a business strategy. He is the founder of a group crying service that encourages people to cry together while a “handsome weeping boy” sipes their tears away. The practice, known as rui-katsu (“tear-seeking”) is especially popular with women and is said to relieve stress levels.
To those people in Western societies, this idea might seem downright strange. But in many cultures around the world, showing sadness is considered taboo and in order to become a man, emotions must be suppressed. Terai told National Geographic that he first discovered this as a unique way of counseling Japanese couples to get over their recent divorces through inducing tears.
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