Japanese Hostesses: Many Cinderellas, Few Princes



The women who pour drinks in Japan’s sleek gentlemen’s clubs were once shunned because their duties were considered immodest: lavishing adoring (albeit nonsexual) attention on men for a hefty fee.

But with that line of work, called hostessing, among the most lucrative jobs available to women and with the country neck-deep in a recession, hostess positions are increasingly coveted, and hostesses themselves are gaining respectability and even acclaim. Japan’s worst recession since World War II is changing mores.

“More women from a diversity of backgrounds are looking for hostess work,” said Kentaro Miura, who helps manage seven clubs in Kabuki-cho, Tokyo’s glittering red-light district. “There is less resistance to becoming a hostess. In fact, it’s seen as a glamorous job.”

But behind this trend is a less-than-glamorous reality. Employment opportunities for young women, especially those with no college education, are often limited to low-paying, dead-end jobs or temp positions.



Hostessing in Japan’s night entertainment industry has provided many women and some men, Japanese and non-Japanese, an opportunity that most other jobs would not have given them: financial ascendancy, and skills and knowledge in dealing with customers to eventually run their own businesses. But does hostessing bring women a rosy life and socioeconomic mobility?

Young women today fancy the celebrity lifestyle in hostessing characterized by tiaras, gowns, perfumes and fun. Like Cinderella, however, most of them can experience a taste of the “good life” within a limited time. After their youthful attractiveness wears off, what awaits them is a barely survivable level of livelihood, unless they meet a reliable “prince.” Under the recurring recessions that began in the 1990s, expecting a prince has become even more unrealistic than ever before, as numerous male workers have been stripped of secure employment and decent pay. Despite and perhaps because of that, some of these young women realize that they are just out to enjoy a momentary glow.



In truth, this article was an excuse to post picture of cute Japanese women. WIN.

Labels: gentlemen's club, hostess, hostessesing, japan, Japanese women

Japanese Hostesses: Many Cinderellas, Few Princes



The women who pour drinks in Japan’s sleek gentlemen’s clubs were once shunned because their duties were considered immodest: lavishing adoring (albeit nonsexual) attention on men for a hefty fee.

But with that line of work, called hostessing, among the most lucrative jobs available to women and with the country neck-deep in a recession, hostess positions are increasingly coveted, and hostesses themselves are gaining respectability and even acclaim. Japan’s worst recession since World War II is changing mores.

“More women from a diversity of backgrounds are looking for hostess work,” said Kentaro Miura, who helps manage seven clubs in Kabuki-cho, Tokyo’s glittering red-light district. “There is less resistance to becoming a hostess. In fact, it’s seen as a glamorous job.”

But behind this trend is a less-than-glamorous reality. Employment opportunities for young women, especially those with no college education, are often limited to low-paying, dead-end jobs or temp positions.



Hostessing in Japan’s night entertainment industry has provided many women and some men, Japanese and non-Japanese, an opportunity that most other jobs would not have given them: financial ascendancy, and skills and knowledge in dealing with customers to eventually run their own businesses. But does hostessing bring women a rosy life and socioeconomic mobility?

Young women today fancy the celebrity lifestyle in hostessing characterized by tiaras, gowns, perfumes and fun. Like Cinderella, however, most of them can experience a taste of the “good life” within a limited time. After their youthful attractiveness wears off, what awaits them is a barely survivable level of livelihood, unless they meet a reliable “prince.” Under the recurring recessions that began in the 1990s, expecting a prince has become even more unrealistic than ever before, as numerous male workers have been stripped of secure employment and decent pay. Despite and perhaps because of that, some of these young women realize that they are just out to enjoy a momentary glow.



In truth, this article was an excuse to post picture of cute Japanese women. WIN.

Labels: gentlemen's club, hostess, hostessesing, japan, Japanese women