Hostess In Japan

PHOTOS BY ALEXANDRA BUHL (TABITHA) MALARKY.SE (KERRYLYN) COORDINATION BY MILÈNE LARSSON

Tabitha, 27, Copenhagen

A Danish friend of mine worked at a big company in Tokyo. He had been going to hostess bars with his work, so that’s how I heard about it. When I visited Japan I decided to do research on hostessing so I found some ads in a newspaper and I got a job the second I applied.

My curiosity made me try it. I think Japan has an interesting culture and hostessing is a part of that. Japanese people are difficult to get close to, and I wanted to understand their society and culture. I study anthropology, and saw hostessing as an opportunity to get to know what was going on in their minds and maybe use that as a part of my studies. The actual work involved a lot of networking, small talk and getting introduced to the guests. I played a role, I entertained them, sang karaoke and got them to party. I got really good at “Jolene” and “She’s Got Betty Davis Eyes.” The most popular girl in the bar was a blond American, she fit the western ideal perfectly.

The best part of the job was being able to be anonymous, and all the after parties. I got to interview people, but they never got to know anything about me. After I finished work at midnight I took a cab home, and became myself again. Sometimes if I met fun people I would go out clubbing with them after work, but I was never into any of them, they were just party buddies.

Overall the whole thing was strange but funny. I couldn’t stop laughing after my shifts. I’m considering doing it again to write an article or an essay about hostessing. And I did make a lot of money.

Kerrylyn, 23, London

I saw an ad for a hostess job in a magazine. I went for an interview and I was told to buy a wig—because I had short hair at the time, the Japanese businessmen would think I was a boy. I was broke and I’d always wanted to go to Japan, so it seemed like a great opportunity.

The hostess bar was operated as a club, it was upstairs in an office building. We were told to be friendly, smile, sing karaoke and dance when asked. We’d empty the ashtrays and make sure there were always four cubes of ice in our customer’s drink. We were taken to their table to drink, chat—and be groped!

On Thursdays we would get a lot of Yakuza in as they ran the bar, and we actually preferred them as they spoke English and treated us a lot nicer than the businessmen.

The worst parts of the job were being treated as a piece of meat, and having to smile while being grabbed by sleazy men. The manager of the club was menacing. He would stroke our legs to check that we had shaved properly. One guy bit my arm because I had a tattoo, and when I shouted at him I was dragged to the kitchen and told to be respectful. We were fined for strange things, like breaking ashtrays or being too drunk, so in the end there would be hardly any money left. I didn’t go on romantic dates either, and sleeping with at least one customer was recommended as well, which I did not want to do.

There is absolutely no way I would do it again. I think it’s dangerous, and I think the way the women are treated is disgusting.