Japan in Motion---Pro-web casting from across Japan.

Host Bar

More Champagne, My Dear?

Host Bar

Wander through the bar district of any large Japanese city and you’ll eventually come across a backlit photo of a group of young men with deep tans and bleach-orange hair. The collars of their black shirts are folded up and they vie for your attention with frankly absurd come-hither looks. Some of them attempt soulfulness, looking as if they’d just learned of a beloved pet’s death. These are hosts, the inevitable counterpart of Japan’s well-known hostesses, and in recent years their clubs have become increasingly popular with Japanese women eager to reverse, if only for a few hours, the more usual power dynamic between the sexes.
The base wage in host clubs is staggeringly low, and consequently almost any man can become a host, unlike hostesses who need at least a smidgen of looks or personality. Of course, not every host will succeed. Most don't, in fact, and competition among hosts is far more cutthroat and competitive than in most hostess clubs. Interestingly, the most successful host is often not the most handsome, but one with quick, clever conversation and an ability to recall minute details about the customer's life that she may have revealed six months earlier.

Unlike hostess clubs, a woman who walks into a host club is likely to find herself the center of attention for a number of men at once, all fighting to light her cigarettes, pour her drinks, perform magic tricks or tell the best stories. By selling drinks and building a list of repeat customers who request his personal attention, a host claws his way up the ranks, with huge bonuses sometimes awarded to the cream of the crop. Top hosts make more in a month than the average businessman's yearly earnings.

Both host and hostess clubs have unsavory aspects, but these needn't be overplayed. The real underside of Japan's nightlife is elsewhere, and the clubs say far less about Japanese attitudes toward sex than they do about the very real difficulties of building satisfying relationships. Hostess clubs are primarily places for people with more money than human attachments to buy a welcoming face along with their whisky. And maybe learn a magic trick.

●CLUB AIR
>>Access 2-33-1, Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
10 minutes walk from JR Shinjuku station

>>Holiday
Sundays and National holidays

>>Fee
●Special discount course for first visit
5000 yen /free time
Free 1 half bottle of Shochu for one person
Free 2 beers
Free cocktails and soft drinks
●Regular course
Table charge: 8,000 yen
Drink set: 3,000 yen
Host request fee: 4,000 yen
TAX: 35％
Consumption tax: 5％

>> MAP
Shinjuku area map>>Click here to view.
Central Tokyo and JR Yamanote line map>>Click here to view.

-Matt Mangham