If documentary is your thing, this is the event for you!
Each session we will explore a documentary on a variety of different topics.
*NOTE: There are scenes in the 2nd half of the session that describe scenes of the deceased. While there are no specific graphic images, the description may be disturbing.
Many of us have heard of the Rental Family business, and often this phenomenon is passed off as a joke. Conan O'Brien even made a comedy clip where he rented a family in Japan for a day.
However, supply always follows demand. What exactly is driving the need for this industry? Is it vanity, loneliness, or is it something deeper?
On the other side, even for people with families, people have ended up living alone for various reasons. This has led to a social issue called Kotokoshi, or "dying alone".
These are people who passed away without people knowing, and often times it takes a long time before they are discovered, leaving the location in desperate need of cleaning. This led to the professional room cleaners, who carries the burden of not just cleaning, but also allowing the deceased to pass on with some level of dignity.
This video interviews a professional room cleaner who cleans such rooms, a social worker who visits solitary seniors, a doctor who runs a senior's health awareness program, and an owner who runs a cafe and rental apartment for seniors. From hearing their stories, we may understand a little more about this situation.
We will explore these two topics in this session, and contemplate how these two issues are intertwined in relation to the current social environment we are in.