Hostess clubs are a common feature in the night-time entertainment industry of Japan: establishments that employ primarily female staff and cater to males seeking drink and attentive conversation. The more recent host clubs are similar establishments where primarily male staff cater to females. Host and hostess bars are considered part of mizu shōbai or "water trade" in Japan. Mizu shōbai (Japanese: 水商売), or the water trade, is the traditional euphemism for the night-time entertainment business in Japan, provided by geisha, hostess or snack bars, bars, and cabarets. ...

Hostess clubs

Signage for hostess bars in Kabukichō, Tokyo

In Japan, hostess clubs are called kyabakura (キャバクラ, kyabakura^?), a portmanteau of cabaret and club. Hostesses are known as kyabajō (キャバ嬢, kyabajō^?), literally club girl, and are generally hired for their looks and/or personality. Hostesses light cigarettes, pour drinks, offer flirtatious conversation, and sing karaoke in an effort to keep the customers entertained. Hostesses can be seen as the modern counterpart of geishas, providing entertainment to salarymen after work. The clubs are distinguished from strip clubs in that there is no dancing or nudity. A club will often also employ a female bartender, who is usually well-trained in mixology, and may also be the manager or mamasan. While drinks tend to be more expensive than at regular bars and there is generally a substantial cover charge, many places offer nomihōdai (飲み放題, nomihōdai^?) (bottomless refills) for certain drinks - usually just shōchū. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (600 × 800 pixel, file size: 320 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Signage for hostess bars in Kabukicho, Tokyo. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (600 × 800 pixel, file size: 320 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Signage for hostess bars in Kabukicho, Tokyo. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue — a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Two unlit filtered cigarettes. ... It has been suggested that Karaoke clubs in Sri Lanka be merged into this article or section. ... Typical nape make-up Geisha ) or Geigi ) are traditional, female Japanese entertainers, whose skills include performing various Japanese arts, such as classical music and dance. ... For the book or movie Striptease see Striptease (book) and Striptease (movie) A striptease is a performance, usually a dance, in which the performer gradually removes their clothing for the purposes of sexually arousing the audience, usually performed in nightclubs. ... For the song by Dave Matthews Band, see Bartender (song). ... For other uses, see Cocktail (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... ShōchÅ« ) is a distilled alcoholic beverage popular in Japan. ...

Hostesses need to drink with their customers every night, and it is not uncommon that they develop alcohol problems as a result.^[1]

Patrons are generally greeted warmly at the door and seated as far away from other customers as possible. In some instances, a customer is able to choose with whom he spends time, while most often that is decided by the house. In either case, the hostess will leave after a certain amount of time or number of drinks, offering the customer a chance to see a fresh face. While most establishments have male touts outside to bring in customers, it may also fall upon a (usually new) hostess to do so. Tout is a semi-colloquial, mainly British term for a person who earns money by reselling tickets to popular events. ...

In addition to their on-site duties, hostesses are generally obliged to engage in paid dates dōhan (同伴, dōhan^?) with patrons outside of the bar and regular working hours. This system generates repeat patronage of a particular bar by developing attachments between particular customers and hostesses. Sometimes sex occurs on these paid dates.^[2] And while hostesses may be deducted pay for not having enough dohan dates, most also run on commission systems in which they receive a percentage of sales.

There is also a hostess club in Tokyo catering to lesbians.^[3]

Hostessing is a popular employment option among young foreign women in Japan. As demand is high but work visas can be difficult to obtain, many choose to work illegally. The clubs sometimes take advantage of the precarious legal situation of the women.^[4] The industry and its dangers were highlighted in 1992, when Carita Ridgeway, an Australian hostess, was drugged and killed after a paid date, and in 2000 when Lucie Blackman, an English hostess, was abducted, raped and murdered by a customer. The government promised to crack down on illegal employment of foreigners in hostess bars, but an undercover operation in 2006 found that several hostess bars were willing to employ a foreign woman illegally.^[2] This article is about the British woman who was murdered in Japan in 2000. ...

Host clubs

Signage for a host club in Kabukichō, Tokyo

A host club is similar to a hostess club, except that female customers pay for male company. Some host clubs also specialize in female-to-male transsexual hosts.^[5] Host clubs are typically found in more populated areas of Japan, and are famed for being numerous in Tokyo districts such as Kabukichō, and Osaka's Umeda and Namba. Customers are typically wives of rich men or women working as hostesses in hostess clubs.^[6] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Osaka )   is a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of HonshÅ«. The city is the capital of Osaka Prefecture. ...

The number of host clubs in Tokyo in 1996 was estimated to be 200, and a night of non-sexual entertainment could cost $500 to $600. A women's studies professor explained the phenomenon by Japanese men's lack of true listening to the problems of women, and by women's desire to take care of a man and be loved back.^[7]

Hosts

Male hosts pour drinks and will often flirt with their clients, more so than their female counterparts. The conversations are generally light-hearted; hosts may have a variety of entertainment skills, be it simple magic tricks or loads of charisma with which to tell a story. Some host clubs have a dedicated stage for a performance, usually a dance, comedy sketch etc.

Hosts are often an age between 18 and their mid-20s. They will take a 'stage name' (源氏名) usually taken from a favourite manga, film, or historical figure, and will often describe their character.

While hostess bars in Tokyo often have men out on the streets getting clients to come into their clubs, hosts often go out onto the streets to find customers (referred to as 'catch' (キャッチ), but these are usually the younger, less-experienced ones. A common look for a host is a dark suit, collared shirt, silver jewelery, a dark tan^[3], and bleached hair. Recently clubs where hosts wear casual clothes have been increasing, but still the norm is the smart suit look. At these clubs there can be a 私服デー (shifukudee) or 'own clothes day' where the hosts can wear their normal clothes. For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ...

Pay is usually determined by commission on drink sales, or uriage (売上）, with hosts often drinking far past a healthy limit, usually while trying to hide their drunkenness. Because the base hourly wage is usually extremely low, almost any man can become a host regardless of looks or charisma (depending on the bar). However, hosts who cannot increase their sales usually drop out very soon, because of the minimal wage. The environment in a host bar is usually very competitive, with tens of thousands of dollars sometimes offered to the host who can achieve the highest sales.

Drinks

Many of the clientele who visit host bars are female hostesses, who finish work at around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., causing host bars to often begin business at around midnight and finish in the morning or midday, and hosts to work to the point of exhaustion. Drinks usually start at about 1000 yen but can reach around 3 million yen ($US 25,000) for a bottle of champagne.

Buying bottles of champagne usually means a 'champagne call' (シャンパンコール). All the hosts of the club will gather around the table for a song or talk, a mic performance of some kind. The champagne will be drunk straight from the bottle by the customer, then her named host, and then the other hosts gathered. Often a wet towel will be held under the chin of the customer and hosts while they drink to prevent spills. The performance differs from club to club, and is believed to have originated at club Ryugujo in Kabukicho by the manager Yoritomo.

Also a 'champagne tower' (シャンパンタワー) can usually be done for special events. Champagne glasses are arranged into a pyramid, and champagne is poured onto the top glass until it trickles down the layers of glasses. A champagne tower uses at least 6 bottles, but for a 7 layer tower 20 bottles can be used. Depending on the champagne used this can cost between 1,000,000~2,000,000 yen.

Etiquette

On the first visit to a host club, the customers will be presented with a 'boy menu' (男メニュー) and will be allowed to decide on which host they would like to meet first. But the customer will meet most of the hosts in that club that night and will be given their name cards. Once the customer has decided on which host she likes, she will make him her named host (指名), and he will receive a percentage of the future sales to that customer. This will be done by buying a 'keep bottle' (a bottle of liquour that can be saved for next time), saying you are interested in a host, or inviting them to sit by you. Also most clubs operate on an 'eternal nomination' system (永久指名) where once a host has been nominated, you can not change hosts at that club except under special circumstances which will need to be discussed with the club.

Sometimes a host will go with a customer for a meal or karaoke after business; this is called 'after' and is considered bad manners by some people. Staying longer at the host club is considered the 'proper' way to treat your host. However it is even possible to go on day trips or travel with a host, but a host can only go with his own customer. Meeting or communicating with a customer who is not your own customer is usually against the host 'rules' and if discovered he is liable to be fined or fired from the club.

It is possible to buy drinks 'on tab' (掛け売り) if the customer does not have enough money. A copy of their ID will be taken, as well as their telephone number and address, with a promise of paying by their pay day or the end of the month. If the customer doesn't pay the host is liable for it. Going to settle the bill is known as 'kaishu' (回収).

It is bad manners to leave a customer alone, called 'only' (オンリー). Sometimes it cannot be helped (for example in the confusion of a champagne call) and will be appologised for. However if a customer is left alone for longer than 20 minutes, they should make a complaint.

A customer who drinks and behaves badly, shouts abusive remarks, is difficult about paying, or is troublesome to the hosts and other customers is referred to as a 'painful customer' (痛客). They are liable to be banned from the club.

Receiving a kiss in the elevator is known as 'ere chu' (エレチュー).

Business Strategy

Sometimes, for instance if a female pays a large amount of money and/or if the host likes them in return, the host can have sex with the client.^[3] If the same host meets the same client, she has a higher chance of having sex than the host having sex with another client. There are various terms for a host who has a sexual relationship with his customer, e.g. a 'colourful love business' (色恋営業), 'colourful love' (色恋), 'colourful guy' (色彼), 'pillow business' (枕営業) or 'pillow' (枕).

There are other methods of 'business', for example 'mail business' (メール営業) where a host will email his customer regularly to ensure their return. Similarly a host may call their customer, but this is fading in popularity now as opposed to mail business. Hosts will usually carry a business phone (営業電話) and a private phone, sometimes more.

Literature and films

Fiction

There are several fashion and lifestyle magazines, for example Men's Knuckle, which are noteworthy for catering to hostesses or hosts, and sometimes also their recruiters and fans.

There are many Japanese fictional works, such as TV dramas, novels, manga (and anime based upon them) which revolve around hostesses or host clubs (for example, Club 9, Bloodhound and the more light-hearted Ouran High School Host Club). These are aimed at a general audience, and demonstrate how such clubs have come to be accepted, to some extent, as part of the urban landscape of Japan. This even extends to non-Japanese fiction, for example with the crime novel Tokyo (2000), by British author Mo Hayder, which has as its main character a British hostess starting out in the industry. Japanese dramas (Japanese: ドラマ dorama; J-dramas; from English drama) are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. ... This article is about the comics published in East Asian countries. ... “Animé” redirects here. ... Serialized in Super Manga Blast Original run – No. ... Blood Hound ) is a manga by mangaka Kaori Yuki. ... Serialized in LaLa Original run August 5, 2003 – Ongoing No. ... Tokyo (known in some areas as The Devil of Nanking) is a 2004 novel by British crime writer Mo Hayder. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Mo Hayder is an acclaimed British crime novelist, author of the novels Birdman, The Treatment and Tokyo (known in some countries as The Devil of Nanking). ...

Non-fiction

The Shohei Imamura documentary History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess (にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活, Nippon Sengoshi: Madamu Onboro no Seikatsu^?) (1970) tells the story of a hostess/prostitute in postwar Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Shohei Imamura (今村 昌平 Imamura Shōhei) (born 15 September 1926 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese film director. ... History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess ) is a 1970 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura. ... Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Yokosuka (Japanese: 横須賀市; -shi) is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. ...

In the 1994 book Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo Hostess Club, sociologist Anne Allison, informed by her own time as a hostess, describes hostess bars as providing an atmosphere where masculinity is "collectively realized and ritualized."

The 1995 documentary Shinjuku Boys by Kim Longinotto describes a Tokyo host club in Shinjuku staffed exclusively by female-to-male transsexuals. Kim Longinotto Kim Longinotto is a British documentary maker, most famous for making films which highlight the plight of women in oppressed or discriminatory roles. ... Categories: Wards of Tokyo | Japan geography stubs ... Transmen or trans men are transsexual or transgendered people who were assigned female gender at birth (or, in some rare cases of intersexuality, later) and who feel that this is not an accurate or complete description of themselves. ... A transsexual (sometimes transexual) person establishes a permanent identity with the opposite gender to their assigned (usually at birth) sex. ...

The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief is a 2006 documentary about a host club in Osaka. Osaka )   is a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of HonshÅ«. The city is the capital of Osaka Prefecture. ...

The memoir Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess will appear in 2008.

References

1. ^ As Lucie Blackman murder verdict approaches, foreign hostesses remain vulnerable, Japan Today, 13 April 2007
2. ^ ^{a b} Nightclub hostess world still seen as one where profit trumps visas, safety, Japan Times, 3 July 2007
3. ^ ^{a b c} Tokyo plays host to sexual shift, Guardian, 18 September 2005
4. ^ Japanese flesh traders targeting Western women, Asian Sex Gazette, 13 January 2005
5. ^ Japanorama, BBC Three, Season 3 Episode 2, first aired 26 March 2007
6. ^ Japan, The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 1997-2001
7. ^ "Clubs Where, for a Price, Japanese Men Are Nice to Women." The New York Times, 8 September 1996

Japanorama is a series of documentaries presented by Jonathan Ross, exploring various facets of popular culture and trends of modern-day Japan. ... BBC Three, the successor to the similar BBC Choice, is a British television channel from the BBC broadcasting only on digital cable, terrestrial and satellite. ...

See also

• Mizu shōbai
• Prostitution in Japan
• Snack bar
• The Honch

Mizu shōbai (Japanese: 水商売), or the water trade, is the traditional euphemism for the night-time entertainment business in Japan, provided by geisha, hostess or snack bars, bars, and cabarets. ... Prostitution in Japan has a long and varied history. ... A snack food is seen in Western culture as a type of food not meant to be eaten as a main meal of the day (breakfast, lunch, supper). ...

External links

• The Great Happiness Space: Documentary of Host Bar
• History Of Postwar Japan As Told By A Bar Hostess at the Internet Movie Database
• Diary of a Tokyo hostess, Salon.com
• My month as a poor man's geisha, The Standard, 22 April 2006