met a girl in virigina who said she had heard of this industry and was considering packing her bags to give it a go. looks like the reputiation of quick money in this spread fast, even if its not true

There are two kinds of snacks. Ones with Japanese girls and ones with SE Asian girls. The reason there aren't hostess bars full of American girls is because American girls aren't looking for well-off Japanese sugar-daddies. I do know American girls that have delved into the hostess world and in general you can count the months before they go home on one hand.

I'm going to Japan to experience the culture, try something different from what I usually do at home and will need to make some money. I considered teaching English but am not really into the idea. I have very little Japanese so a lot of other jobs probably aren't an option. Sharing a room to begin with doesn't really bother me if it's for a short time. A positive I see with taking up the club organised accommodation is that I would be able to meet others in Tokyo because I have only a few contacts there. If you have other suggestions for finding share housing I'd be interested to hear them.

If you go to gainjinpot.com, you'll find ads for shared accommodations, gaijin homes, etc.

Working as a hostess would be quite the experience but the work environment isn't exactly healthy. You'll probably be working way into the early morning, you'll be exposed to tons of second hand smoke, a ton of alcohol and a lot of sweaty hands.

If your club is like the traditional hostess clubs, you'll probably be forced to go on dates with your clients outside of your working hours as well.

Make sure you get all of the details regarding your employer. The accommodations would be the last thing I'd be worried about. ;)

Since it doesn't sound like you have a legit job lined up, I am going to assume you are going on a tourist visa. That means you can spend up to three months in Japan.

A hostesses job is conversation, so if you can't speak Japanese well you may find yourself washing dishes or cleaning ashtrays. Can you tell me the name of the club and I can see what it says about it in Japanese? (PM is fine, too)

This sounds like a very risky venture to me. Ginza is high-end, but it also means their customers are paying a lot of money, and if you can't speak fluently, you might be expected to keep customers interested in other ways.

see, that sounds really dodgy to me.

To me, these hostess clubs seem degrading to women.

There are all kinds of clubs. The difference between some snack bars and some cabaret clubs is a range as far as a corner diner on one end and the strip club in The Sopranos on the other. The majority are perfectly fine and have nothing to do with the sex trade. A club that is talking with a foreign girl, telling her they have a place for her to stay and she can't speak Japanese makes me worried.

What's degrading to women is up to the consumer to decide, but in my mind the majority are not degrading at all.

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If employed by the club without a work visa she is already breaking the law, so she would be sent home on the next plane and probably not be allowed back into Japan again.