Host and hostess clubs

A hostess bar is a bar or pub that employs primarily female staff and caters to adult males seeking drink and conversation. A similar and more recent establishment (specific to Japan) is a host bar.

Hostess bar

Hostess bars can be found in many countries and take many forms. While some bars are tied to the sex trade, with hostesses being little more than prostitutes who serve drinks, at most establishments the sex is generally implied, not performed. Hostesses light cigarettes, pour drinks, offer flirtatious conversation, and sing karaoke in an effort to keep the customers entertained. They are distinguished from strip clubs in that there is no dancing or nudity.

In Japan, hostess bars are called kyabakura (キャバクラ), a portmanteau of cabaret and club. Hostesses are known as kyabajō (キャバ嬢), literally club girl, and are generally hired for their looks and/or personality. A bar will often also employ a female bartender, who is usually well-trained in cocktail 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 nomihodai (bottomless refills) for certain drinks - usually just whiskey.

While most establishments have male touts outside to bring in customers, it may also fall upon a (usually new) hostess to do so. In addition to their on-site duties, hostesses are generally obliged to make customers their dōhan (同伴) — a patron who will take them to dinner 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. And while hostesses may be deducted pay for not having enough dohan dates, most also run on commission systems in which they also receive a percentage of sales.

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 who he spends time with, while most often is it decided by the house. However, the hostess will leave after a certain amount of time or number of drinks, offering the customer a chance to see a fresh face.

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 industry and its dangers were highlighted in 2001 when Lucie Blackman, an English hostess, was abducted, raped and murdered by a customer.

Host club

A host club is similar to a hostess bar, except that female customers pay for male company. Host clubs are typically found in more populated areas of Japan, and are famed for being numerous in Tokyo districts such as Kabukichō.

Male hosts pour drinks and will often flirt with their clients moreso than their female counterparts. The conversations are generally light-hearted and depending on the host, they have a variety of entertainment skills, be it simple magic tricks or loads of charisma with which to tell a story. Hosts are often aged between 18 and their mid-20s.

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.

Many of the clientel who visit host bars are often female hostesses, who finish work at around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., causing host bars to often begin business at 3:00 a.m. and finish in the morning or midday, and hosts to work to the point of exhaustion. Drinks usually start at about 5,000 yen but can reach around 3 million yen ($US 15,000) for a bottle of champagne.

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, 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, and bleached hair.

Mizu shobai

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. Kabukicho in Shinjuku, Tokyo is Japan's most famous area where one can patronize the water trade, as well as its more carnal counterpart Fūzoku (風俗, Fūzoku) — the sex industry composed of soaplands, pink salons, health, and image clubs.

While the actual origin of the term mizu shōbai is debatable, it is likely the term came into use during the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868). The Tokugawa period saw the development of large bathhouses and an expansive network of roadside inns offering hot baths and sexual release, as well as the expansion of geisha districts and courtesan quarters in cities and towns throughout the country.

A nation famous for its onsens (natural hot springs), recreational sex has long been associated with water in Japan. Bearing relation to ukiyo (浮世 and 憂世), or "the floating world", mizu shōbai is a metaphor for floating, drinking and impermanence. Rising up with the tide, the floating world, then receding again, the fundamental nature of water is to flow uncontained, to never rest. Such characteristics are virtues in the pleasure industry — a fluid and constant place of commodity and exchange, of blurred boundaries and ever-shifting rules. However, the fluidity and unpredictability of water brings with it the risks, where the success of business greatly depends on the quality of service, the capriciousness of the guest, and even the weather.

Snack bar

In Japan, a "snack bar" (スナックバー sunakku baa), or "snack" for short, refers to a kind of hostess bar, an alcohol-serving bar that employs female staff that are paid to flirt with male customers. Although they don't charge an entry fee (and often have no set prices on its menus), they usually have an arbitrary (and expensive) bill. In Japan, "snack bar" can also refer to a candy bar.

External links

• Review History Of Postwar Japan As Told By A Bar Hostess   at the Internet Movie Database

More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Host_and_hostess_clubs ]

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