As the film plays, the Ikemeso Danshi therapist typically sheds a few tears himself, while encouraging his clients to do the same. When the whole office is in tears, the therapist gets out his handkerchief and attends to the ladies. “At first I was embarrassed,” says Kujime, “but after the people next to me burst into tears, I was also naturally moved to cry.” The result for her staff was a collective release: “We shed so many tears, so we felt really refreshed!”An unfavorable view of sobbing at work certainly isn’t limited to Japan, but many claim the nation’s group-oriented society places higher value on cohesion than individual opinion — which may add to the burden of emotional restraint, says Terai. Still, crying shouldn’t be shameful: “Because we Japanese don’t talk about our true intentions very much, we often end up suppressing our own feelings,” he adds.That's a missed opportunity, if you ask Terai. He cites Toho University School of Medicine professor emeritus Hideo Arita, whose work guides the Ikemeso Danshi technique. According to Arita, who also runs a “Serotonin Dojo” for stress management, empathy is activated in the prefrontal cortex. When our hearts are stirred by a tear-jerking drama or book, our involuntary empathetic response (i.e. crying) acts like a sort of reset for the brain, and we experience a healing effect.Indeed, rather than tears of sorrow, Kujime of Rocket Japan says that the ones shed at her office were the kind that well up when you feel moved, or when you think about someone you love. She and her staff found the experience “very meaningful,” she says, and are grateful to Ikemeso Danshi for providing an opportunity to cry. “Because the cost of the service is quite low, I’d like to do it again,” she adds.In the vein of Japan’s hostess bars, maid cafes, and cuddle therapists, Ikemeso Danshi commodifies human intimacy in what is often viewed by outsiders as a culture of isolated and repressed workaholics. But Terai says his company’s aim is actually to bring people together. When one of his ikemen shows up at the office, it lightens the atmosphere. And when co-workers can cry together, “a new level of communication is born from this glimpse of one another’s original, authentic self.”As Terai puts it, “even scary bosses have unexpectedly cute crying faces.”