Host club
 

Hey everyone!!!
well i not so sure about what a Host clubs in Japan are so.
They offer me to work in one but i just dont know about what exactly they do there so if someone have work there or have gone to one please share your experience:D
and if you know something about this just post iot too
:ywave:

Firstly, I'm going to say that I would advise against working in a Host Club. My personal opinion.

First! About VISAS:
To work in Japan legally, you need the correct visa- working holiday (short term) or a full working visa. If you have neither of these, you WILL be breaking Japanese law. Working holiday visas are NOT available for some countries and you would have had to have applied for one in your home country. You cannot change from a standard 90-day tourist visa to a working holiday visa or work visa in Japan and I repeat, you are not allowed to work on a 90 day tourist visa. You ~can~ work on a student visa if you apply for permission to do so; talk to your education centre on how to do this and if the school policy will allow you.

If the club won't give you the correct visa, understand that you are running the risk of falling foul of the law if you are ever caught working there. This could amount to as much as imprisonment, a ban from re-entering Japan, and (most likely) deportation. They take a very hard line with this.

About Housing:
If you are living in rented accommodation in Japan and your landlord hears you are working in a Host Club, you might be kicked out of your apartment as night workers tend to be unpopular residents. It might also be in the small print your housing contract (assuming you have one), so taking this job could be violating it.

About Health:
A host's lifestyle is notoriously unhealthy. It's obviously, long overnight hours, you are expected to drink and you may be working every night if you are full time. In any case, part of your job is to try and sell as many drinks as possible, and one means of doing that is to consume as much as possible yourself- your customer pays for your food and drink at the same inflated prices. As a job, this could stop being fun quite quickly and have a serious affect on your health. In most health guides, binge-drinking (that's just 5 or more drinks in one session) frequently or becoming severely drunk more than -twice- classifies as alcohol abuse.
If you don't smoke yourself, expect to passive smoke regularly. Whilst drugs use in japan is low, you are more likely to encounter it in Host Club establishments. It's purported that some Hosts use cocaine as it allows you to drink more.

About Clients:
Some will just be girls looking for a bit of harmless fun, and to blow a wad of cash. Others might be much more trouble. You will be expected to pander to them even if you cannot stand them or think they are raging psychos. Often a largish part of the client base will consist of other night workers, from all ranges of professions. Be aware then, that intimate contact with your clients could expose you to STD's. Also a moral consideration; it's long been the story that some women turn to prostitution in order to feed their addiction with Host Clubs. In some places I'm sure this isn't the case and it's a small percentage anyway, but regardless, can you work in a profession where the need to pay your wages drives some women to sell themselves?
If your clients get very drunk, you probably going to be responsible for sorting them out and cleaning up after them. You might be party to some incredibly sad stories.
Depending on your club, you may be obliged to arrange 'dates' for the days your not working in the club.

Your role:
As a new employee, you'll probably doing a lot of the grunt service work before they'll release you on clients. Or they may be desperate (no offense) and chuck you in at the deep end. If you can't speak Japanese, you may struggle to keep some clients sufficiently amused so you could find your job in a host club is actually scrubbing the toilets and fetching and carrying. Or standing on a street corner all night trying to invite women inside. You will probably get a meagre set wage, with much of your income based on commission from the drinks you sell. Obviously if you're on the road or scrubbing the loos, you're not going to be earning much. You'll be sleeping less and working weekends and holidays isn't unheard of. As a foreign host, you're more likely to be treated as a simple novelty or part-time english teacher. Not too many become successful celebrities.
On the other hand, popular hosts get massive bonus' and may receive expensive presents from their clients.

About Crime:
It's rumored some host clubs have ties with some dirty dealings. Simply be aware that this kind of work exposes you to more of the criminal element in Japan.

Columbine summed up the issues rather well, but if you want some more input "Great Happiness Space" is an interesting documentary.

that sounds like perfect advice from Columbine.

when I read the book "TOKYO HOSTESS" I was horrified by the treatment of so many young women. it does go into great detail.

If I was a mother-- I would definitely say NO.


BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Inside Tokyo's hostess clubs

It's a little old, but I think that does still show some good insight into the industry. I think there's a lot of shock value associated with it, and a lot of romanticism. End of the day, you're working in the entertainment industry- if you can get to them, it's got it's pluses, but you need a strong dose of common sense and luck to be able to navigate around all the pitfalls.

Just to highlight how dangerous it can be, the British girl who was murdered in Japan was working as a hostess. She however, made the mistake of going back to a customer's house.

well thanks for evryone anwer!!!
and well i could say i dont have noticed that it was something like that.
Well and if anyone have something else to share please post it.
Thanks

I didn't hear good things about Host Clubs. They're basically subtle terms to cover over prostitution or actions bordering the lines of prostitution. I saw the documentary on it, and I'd never want even my worst enemy to work like that.

but i think in a host club the club pays for the clothes and for the hairstylig stuff? im not sure if thats the case.

and in some of the clubs the hosts are not meant to go with the clients or thats what ive heard :o

so..male hosts isn't anything unusual?
actually sounds fun :cool: at least for a while...not to say - a life's profession but still :cool:
i think if you are foreigner (Scandinavian,Russian etc) its easier to be a host since i was told by friend who visited Japan for some time that Japanese can't consume as much sake/vodka. just for comparison - on average male here drinks 0.7 or even 1 litre of 40% vodka or some 8 to 10 beers (we only have 5.2% and up...don't have any 3.9...4%)...well from all the parties i've seen. so - less buzz and negative effects on mind :cool:

so true :D male hosts in japan arent unusual :)
in one magazine they said that host clubs have a own "china town"- kind of place there :p

please read "TOKYO HOSTESS>" You will be taking risks--------

No the club does not pay for clothes or hairstyling.

The hosts are NEVER meant to go with the clients. That's what keeps the clients coming to the clubs.

List of countries by alcohol consumption - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and? Japan has 7.6. we have 9.6 and Russians 10.3
East Europe just has the tradition to drink more strong alcohol. while other cultures would get wasted by smaller amount of vodka we would get wasted having a drink-off drinking wine with French.

Hostess bars | Japan for the Uninvited

item about hostess bars.

I am just saying they are no slouches in the drinking department. A 7.6 is still higher than Bulgaria, Brazil, Norway and is just below Canada.

The Great Happiness Space is a great documentary about male Host Clubs in Japan.


I wasn't under the impression that any host club would ever hire a foreigner to work as a host though...

Hosting for men and women is quite different. Here are things that they have in common though.
I'll give information based on what I've seen in my friends who have done it.

It is a gateway into the sex industry, not slowly, and not smoothly.
It's an easy way to alienate your real friends and end up very lonely.
(Japanese people, more so than most, care about who they associate with.)
Your "friendships" become very artificial.

It's a sad life, in the long run.
If you think you have what it takes to do it, and get out of it before things go sour, you are special.
It's demoralizing and degrading, which breaks willpower and most can't escape the lifestyle.

The reasons mentioned before regarding visas, your home, etc are all very good points too!

I think the link Dogsbody posted is the most accurate in my observations.

Being a hostess is not like being a heroin addict. It is not a downward spiral into doom and gloom, unless you want it to be. Many hostesses are college girls looking for a little extra money. For a lot of young women it is a quick way to make some easy money, and to meet people, including a potential husband.

For some women the club becomes their social center, but that is usually if they didn't have many friends otherwise.

Hostess clubs are considered part of "mizu shoubai" or "water industry" in reference to the water mixed with whiskey that is usually the drink of choice. It is not the same as the sex industry, and I think to say hostess bars a quick intro into the sex trades is like saying beer is a quick intro into crystal meth addiction. The VAST majority of hostesses will never be even scouted by porn scouts. Hostess bars cost money, and scouts pick up women off the streets, not in hostess bars.

Hostess bars are not places frequented by perverts and degenerates. I often went to hostess bars with colleagues and friends. We went because they are places where you can get superior service and a guaranteed lively conversation. Single men with poor social skills often go because they know there will be someone there to drink with them (often it ends up including other single men living alone who frequent the bar).