We spend a lot of time indulging in images of hot girls and the like here on Tokyo Kinky.
What about the guys?
Well, if you’ve ever wondered about the life of the male host and his world of wining and dining female clients, now is your chance to find out more.
Vice Japan have produced another short documentary looking at Naoki, a top Japanese host at Club Fantasy in Kabukicho. Naoki is so good at entertaining and getting his guests to drink (more overpriced beverages) that he has been awarded the top prize among hosts for his sales. He is now a manager as well, despite being in his early thirties.
“Hosts are their own product or brand,” Naoki opines, saying he has everything — money, women… (In terms of the former, Naoki was at one point earning between 4 million and 10 million yen PER MONTH.)
On a basic level, the host must flirt and get the woman to drink and to buy him drinks, which hardly makes this the healthiest of jobs. However, it takes an incredible amount of skill and social charm to win in the long run by building your own fan base and valued regulars.
Times are changing for the hosts, though. As part of the Olympic “clean-up”, Shinjuku no longer allows hosts to pick up clients off the street. Could the days of this very pure form of “omotenashim” be numbered?
Here’s the documentary.