Turn down the lights, hire a bunch of cute hosts, and keep the drinks coming, and it shouldn’t matter what your club looks like, right? Actually, no. Designing host clubs is a lot like designing casinos and supermarkets – if you want to inspire women to spend money like water, you better make sure you have a bunch of these:Continue reading “Inside Tokyo’s Wildest Host Clubs”
Tag Archives: Kabukicho
The Annual Host Convention!
Picture this. It’s a quiet Monday night in January. Usually the hosts who work in the Zero Group’s bars would be giving their hair a much-needed rest, kicking back to annihilate some video game zombies, and ordering take-out. But tonight is different from all other Monday nights. Tonight is The Annual Meeting! In any business,Continue reading “The Annual Host Convention!”
A Day In The Life: What’s It Like To Be A Host?
Join veteran host Sakura-san as he teaches his new recruit “Yua-kun” the ropes! First, a run-down of a typical day in Yua’s life: 11:00 a.m.: Wake up* Noon: Go to the hair salon to get his tresses waxed, teased, arranged and sprayed. 1:00 p.m.: Go home and relax until it’s time to go to workContinue reading “A Day In The Life: What’s It Like To Be A Host?”
Tokyo At Night: Kabuki-chō
In Kabuki-chō, the day starts when the sun goes down. The streets are thronged with those who are looking for a good time, and those who are looking to provide it. I got to know this area pretty well when I was researching Fallen Angel, the second book in my mystery series, because it mostlyContinue reading “Tokyo At Night: Kabuki-chō”
How Do I Find A Good Host Club?
It’s a well-kept secret that there’s a website with listings for host clubs in cities all over Japan. It’s called HostXHost. Naturally, it’s in Japanese…but fear not! I can show you how to navigate the highways and byways to get a feel for the hosts and their clubs! Here’s what the home screen looks like.Continue reading “How Do I Find A Good Host Club?”
How Can I Go To A Host Club?
It’s not impossible for a foreigner to go to a host club, but the best way to do it is to ask a Japanese female friend to go with you. If you go with a Japanese woman, she can make the reservation and ask the club if it’s all right to bring a foreign guest.Continue reading “How Can I Go To A Host Club?”
Can Foreigners Get Into A Host Club?
It’s possible, but it it’s not quite as simple as walking up to the doorman and asking to come in. Why? Isn’t my money as good as the next girl’s? Well, for starters, there’s a bit of a language issue. While there might be a few hosts who speak languages other than Japanese, most guysContinue reading “Can Foreigners Get Into A Host Club?”
What Is A Host Club “Champagne Call”?
Sometimes a customer orders a special bottle of champagne, and all the hosts in the club temporarily abandon the customers they’re entertaining and gather around her table for a “champagne call.” Laser lights and/or music starts up as they assemble from all corners of the club. Then, while a waiter prepares a tray of emptyContinue reading “What Is A Host Club “Champagne Call”?”
How Expensive Is It To Go To A Host Club?
Will going to a host club blow your budget for a month? The answer is, it won’t if you’re careful. Most clubs have an “introductory price” of ¥2000-¥3000 that includes one to two hours at the club being entertained by the hosts and a bottle of either saké, shōchū or brandy. If you go with someoneContinue reading “How Expensive Is It To Go To A Host Club?”
What’s It Like To Go To A Host Club?
Let’s slip past the secret door and find out what it’s really like to go to a host club! When you arrive for your reservation, at some clubs you’ll be handed a photo album before being seated at a table. Inside are glamour shots of all the club’s hosts, and you’ll be asked if you’dContinue reading “What’s It Like To Go To A Host Club?”
What Kind Of Women Go To Host Clubs?
What kind of woman pays a guy to spend time with her? The truth might surprise you – it’s not women who are too unattractive to get near a guy otherwise. Actually, about seventy percent of women who go to host clubs work in the mizu shōbai business themselves (in hostess clubs or places thatContinue reading “What Kind Of Women Go To Host Clubs?”
What Do Women Want?
So, why do women go to host clubs anyway? That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? What do women really want? Ask any host and he’ll tell you: women want to be wanted. But you have to be able to tell how a woman wants to be wanted. A woman isn’t always jonesing for aContinue reading “What Do Women Want?”
Look Like a Host In One Easy Makeover!
My all-time favorite magazine Men’s Knuckle sent an intrepid team of stylists to Kabuki-chō to perform makeovers on young men they thought could use some help achieving that irresistible host club look. Look & learn at the feet of the masters! Let’s face it – this guy looked hopelessly normal before the stylists pointed himContinue reading “Look Like a Host In One Easy Makeover!”
Gateway to Kitty Nirvana
In a country where many people live in places too small for pets, cat cafés are a booming business. For about $10 an hour, anyone (over the age of 12) can sip a latte and pet herds of cats for as long as their wallets hold out or until their allergies kick in. The mostContinue reading “Gateway to Kitty Nirvana”
Midnight Mess
Saturday night I went to the monthly Goth party at Club Marz and met up with famed author/journalist/TV host La Carmina, who was filming a segment for NHK Tokyo Kawaii TV. The fabulous outfits and makeup of everybody there – especially La Carmina and Yukiro – are always a visual treat. And the entertainment didContinue reading “Midnight Mess”
Bottle of Dom, Anyone?
Got to bed last night at 2:00 after passively breathing in about two packs-worth of cigarette smoke at a most excellent host club. These days in Kabuki-chō, it’s illegal to smoke out on the street, but inside a club? Fire ‘em up! It was pouring rain and freezing cold outside. I thought it’d be aContinue reading “Bottle of Dom, Anyone?”
Host Club 101
I’m happy to report that the geisha world is alive and well in Kabuki-chō…only these days it’s populated by gorgeous young guys decked out in visual-kei style whose job it is to entertain women like the princesses we wish we were. When I first started researching Fallen Angel, I discovered just how hard it is for a foreigner toContinue reading “Host Club 101”
Only In Japan 