Hostess bar
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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.
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[edit] 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 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.
[edit] 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, and Osaka's Umeda and Namba.
[edit] Hosts
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. Some host clubs have a dedicated stage for a performance, usually a dance, comedy sketch etc. The time for their performances are 'show time' (ショータイム ). Even if a host is poor at conversation, or prone to blunders (地雷 lit - land mine) if he can make it amusing, or is skilled with changing ash trays wiping glasses to prevent them sticking to the drink mats, lighting the customers cigarette, he still has a chance to be a successful host.
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, 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.
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.
[edit] Drinks
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 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 15,000) 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 perfomrance 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.
[edit] 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 intersted 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 unless 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's 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 doesn't 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).
[edit] Business Strategy
Sometimes, in some situations such as if a female pays a big amount of money and/or if the host likes them in return, the host can have sex with them. But not all the time. If the same host meets the same client, she has a higher chance of having sex then the host having sex with another client. There are various terms for a host who has a sexual relationship with his customer, eg 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.
[edit] Popular culture
There are many dramas, documentaries, mangas, animes and magazines revolving around host clubs, and catering to hosts, their customers, and host recruiters, such as Ouran High School Host Club.
The book Tokyo (2000), by British crime novelist Mo Hayder has as its main character a British hostess just starting out in the industry.
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.
