article about role-play (Rental Family Members; letter from Tokyo)

There is some good food for thought in the examples here: families who have temporary need of a person to fill in a role for their family circumstances.

Letter from Tokyo - April 30, 2018 Issue. Japan's Rent-a-Family Industry

People who are short on relatives can hire a husband, a mother, a grandson.

The resulting relationships can be more real than you'd expect.

By Elif Batuman, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/japans-rent-a-family-industry

Japan's Rent-a-Family Industry | The New Yorker www.newyorker.com Japan's Rent-a-Family Industry People who are short on relatives can hire a husband, a mother, a grandson. The resulting relationships can be more real than you'd expect.