Host clubs forcing freshmen to start at the bottom

[Dragon12]

Probleme im Leben eines männlichen Hostess in Japan (uups wie heisst diese Berufsbezeichnung in Deutsch??)

Host clubs forcing freshmen to
start at the bottom

By Ryann Connell
Staff writer

November 18, 2002



Host club work isn't all that it's made out to be. The days when wealthy housewives looking for a little spark in their lives would reward hosts with lavish gifts in return for trifling amounts of attention are long gone. And, though the profession can still be a lucrative one, it's far more accessible to ordinary women than ever before, exposing hosts to situations once unthinkable, according to Shukan Taishu (12/2).
"Recently, we've had more and more cases where ordinary women might have gone out drinking somewhere nearby and then drop into the host club before heading for home. It used to be that only sex workers or hostesses would come here after work to relieve the stress they'd built up," Masaya Suzukaze, one of the top employees at Shinjuku's premier host club Heaven, tells Shukan Taishu. "With most clubs now charging only 5,000 yen for a first visit, it's become a lot easier for average women to use them. But it seems the less a woman looks like a troublemaker, the more likely she actually is to be a pest. We've got women demanding sex even when they've got partners and sexual harassment of hosts is rampant. But even worse things than that are happening."

Teruhito Katagiri, host at a club in Tokyo's Ikebukuro, can attest to that following celebrations for his birthday in October. Incidentally, the month of a host's birthday is supposed to be the time when he makes the most money, with regulars expected to shower him with gifts and bigger-than-usual tips.

"This women brought in a cake for my birthday and opened a bottle of 10,000 yen wine for me. I gave her special service and we were singing and drinking more than usual, so things were really kicking. After a couple of hours of playing around, the woman suddenly stood up on a sofa, told me she was feeling hot and started to remove her sweater," Katagiri tells Shukan Taishu. "Once she had her breasts out, she went over to the cake she'd brought in for me and ran her fingers through the thick coating of whipped cream on top of it. She then wiped the cream all over her boobs and demanded that I lick it off. Well, she was a regular customer, so I didn't think I had much other choice than to oblige. Once I started licking it off, though, she got really excited."

After cooling down the woman once, she soon began smothering cream on her mammaries once again.

"By that stage, she was anyone's and seemed to have totally forgotten about me," Katagiri says. "Still, she made it a birthday I certainly won't forget for as long as I live."

Satoshi Nagarekawa wants to wipe out any recollection his experience as soon as possible.

"New guys like myself find it really hard to get regular customers at first. We're pretty much limited to looking after regulars the more experienced guys haven't got the time for. I ended up with this career woman in her 30s while my boss was looking after somebody else. I tried my guts out to please this woman, but no matter what I did she'd just sit there with a bored look on her face. The only sound she gave out was a sigh of frustration every now and again," the 21-year-old Roppongi host tells Shukan Taishu. "She seemed to be taking her anger out at me for being ignored by my boss. She ordered a bottle of 300,000 yen champagne, then took off her shoe and poured the drink in. She gave me the shoe and said, 'It's in just the right goblet for you. Drink it.' I couldn't refuse. After I'd drunk three shoefulls, she ordered me to find out what the rest of the goblet tasted like. I had to slowly lick the shoe from top to bottom."

Yoji Shina, president of the prominent King and Queen host club in Shinjuku, knows that life as a host isn't all it's made out to be.

"We'll get 100 people start here for a job and within half a year, only two or three of them will still be left. And, to make things worse, nearly all hosts seek regular hospital treatment because they suffer from stomach or liver problems brought on by stress or the excessive amount of drinking they're required to do on the job," the veteran host tells Shukan Taishu. "Most people are mistaken in their views on host work. It's extremely straining, both mentally and physically. I swear it's nothing like the heavenly job it's portrayed as."