Every once in a while, a headline lands that’s so specific, so inherently peculiar, it’s almost poetic. “In Japan, You Can Rent a Grandma for $23 an Hour,” as Oddity Central recently put it, falls squarely into that category. No, it’s not a typo or a forgotten subplot from a particularly avant-garde sitcom—it’s a service.

Details are scant in Oddity Central’s piece, with only the tantalizing notion that, for a fee, a grandmotherly figure is available for hire. We aren’t told exactly what grandmotherly wisdom or warmth is on offer, or whether the “grandma experience” involves knitting lessons, gentle lectures about posture, or emergency hard candy. What we do know is the basic premise: in Japan, you can pay for the temporary company of a grandma.

This leaves a lot to the imagination. Is this the comforting embrace of familial tradition, boxed up and delivered by the hour? Or just another entry in the long catalog of services available à la carte in modern society? The cultural specifics are blurry, but the concept is crystal clear—and, frankly, raises more questions than it answers.

It’s striking how this kind of service—implied by the headline—blurs lines we usually take for granted. Grandma, for most, is a singular, unrepeatable role. The idea that such a role could be filled by a stranger, even temporarily, feels both oddly transactional and quietly touching. Would having a rented grandma feel reassuring? Or just a little uncanny? Perhaps in a world where so many traditional connections are unreliable or unavailable, renting affection is more practical than we’d care to admit.

Oddity Central doesn’t dive into the motivations behind the service or its impact, but it’s hard not to wonder what drives demand. Are there people out there longing for the wise counsel and soft scolding only a grandma can provide? Would some simply like the comfort of being reminded to wear a scarf?

The strange, minimalist information on offer almost adds to the intrigue. Sometimes, the peculiarity is in what’s implied rather than what’s explained. In an age when nearly anything is rentable for a fee, maybe the most surprising thing is how quickly an idea like “renting a grandma” begins to sound—dare I say—almost sensible.

What would your own grandma say if she knew her role could be outsourced by the hour? Odds are there’d be a telling look, maybe a quiet sigh, and—if you’re lucky—a story about how much cheaper everything used to be.