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[EviLore]

Host clubs. These have to be one of the strangest mainstream aspects of Japanese culture. Anime hair guys caked in makeup who pretend to fall in love with women, then extract tens of thousands of dollars from them, sometimes forcing them into prostitution to pay their debts to the club for the extravagant fees they incur by drinking there and experiencing the fantasy of Sephiroth charming them. Heavily tied to organized crime, of course. But still popular.

There's a short documentary on Youtube about it that's worth a watch. In this one, the host admits that one of his young clients sold herself into prostitution to pay for her drink tab after falling in love with him, which is horrifying and bizarre. But there's another big twist...




I also found this full length documentary from 2006 called The Great Happiness Space: Tales of an Osaka Love Thief, which delves into Osaka host club culture. Watching it now and it's interesting and depraved.




There's also a British youtuber who took on the role of a host for a night. This video sidesteps all the grimdark realities of the clubs (kind of a disservice) but still highlights how strange they are. The number one host at this club is a very obese guy with an outrageously faulty personality who extracts tens of thousands of dollars a night from his female customers.




Japan is endlessly fascinating...

 

[cormack12]

 

[DKehoe]

That guy can make $64,000 a night!?

 

[EviLore]

That guy can make $64,000 a night!?

That might’ve be the strangest part of all of it tbh. He’s like a 3/10 and has negative charisma!

 

[Sub_Level]

Lol imagine getting openly hustled like that.

*leaves 100% tip at the bar cuz the bartender has big boobs and talked to me for a few minutes*

 

[PonyStation4]

It's probably woman who've fallen into significant debt with criminals, they go into host clubs to pay back thousands so crime lords have a legal income.

 

[DKehoe]

That might’ve be the strangest part of all of it tbh. He’s like a 3/10 and has negative charisma!

Yeh when I saw your post about him I thought ok he's not good looking but maybe he's the life of the party, can charm anyone and makes you feel important. But he seems totally unremarkable in every way. I really don't get it. Is he the son of the owner or something?

Also, I remember seeing something about these host clubs a while back. A woman was travelling in Japan and matched with a guy on Tinder. They arranged a date and met at what turned out to be a really cheap restaurant. He told her he had work in about half an hour and that they should continue the date at the host club he worked at. She messaged a friend who told her to get the fuck out of there because she risked getting trafficked.

 

[Dr_Salt]

You guys ever heard about money laundering?

 

[Doom85]

Hostess bars/clubs are also a thing in Japan as well. I’m sure there are some men also diving into debt at those establishments as well.

Due to Japan’s demanding work culture (and other factors), a lot of people in the workforce pretty much only have time to go out for drinks after work. So it’s not surprising if they find themselves unable to spend the time meeting someone let alone dating someone that they seek this as an alternative regardless if they can realistically afford it or not. These establishments are preying upon these overworked people, and it’s just yet another reason, regardless of how efficient it is, Japan’s work culture has to start making changes for the betterment of its people.

I follow Connor (the British Youtuber), and he was only living in Japan for at most a year prior to making that video, so it‘s highly likely he was unaware of the issues surrounding it.

 

[Lukaku's First Touch]

I wonder what kind of money a white guy could make there. When I was in Asia they were fawning over me.

 

[EviLore]

Yeh when I saw your post about him I thought ok he's not good looking but maybe he's the life of the party, can charm anyone and makes you feel important. But he seems totally unremarkable in every way. I really don't get it. Is he the son of the owner or something?

Also, I remember seeing something about these host clubs a while back. A woman was travelling in Japan and matched with a guy on Tinder. They arranged a date and met at what turned out to be a really cheap restaurant. He told her he had work in about half an hour and that they should continue the date at the host club he worked at. She messaged a friend who told her to get the fuck out of there because she risked getting trafficked.

Yeah, from what I’ve heard most local women understand that hosts are bad news.

But that doesn’t stop them of course. Kind of the equivalent of club promoters in the West.

 

[Kamina]

Saw a documentary about this some days ago. Very sickening.

Paired with other stories like teenage girls being homeless after fleeing from home due to sexual abuse by thier families, it really makes japan appear deranged in certain aspects.

 

[BennyBlanco]

while totally bizarre, still less pathetic than the guys who make 10k donations to titty streamers and OF girls. At least you are in the same physical space as the person ripping you off.

 

[Tams]

Seeing hosts hang around train stations was one of the funniest things I saw while living in Japan.

All there with their ridiculous hairdos, OTT clothes and overt manbags.

Watching them trying to nampa women was equal parts disturbing, creepy, and amusing.

 

[EviLore]

The full length documentary (2nd video) really lays it all out on the table after 30-40 minutes. The host club owner admits that most of their regular long-term clients become prostitutes in order to make enough money to keep seeing the hosts, and that eventually the girls' lives revolve around the hosts, so they'll do anything to keep the dream (of their fake relationship) alive.

A girl says that deep down she doesn't want to be a sex worker, but if she stopped she couldn't afford to keep seeing her host, whom she loves.

Another girl says that since becoming a sex worker, she can't speak openly with anyone about her job anymore, except for her host, since her host don't judge her. As a result, she spends all the considerable money she makes as a sex worker on paying for time with her host, to have an emotional connection with someone who doesn't judge her and doesn't care about whether they do anything physical.

Basically pimps who look like Tidus from FFX.

 

[ReBurn]

That's just bizarre.

 

[ReBurn]

You guys ever heard about money laundering?

One time I left $45 in my pocket when I washed my pants and it was fine.

 

[Kenpachii]

Lonelyness is a real thing even under woman. And woman crave attention. So i could see them testing it out and then getting soaked in because they fall in love with the guy that's the perfect "boyfriend".

We have the same shit in the netherlands they are called loverboys. They will throw a ton of attention towards easy to manipulate girls, shower them in gifts. Just for them to end up being trafficked and thrown into prostitution.

These type of practices however get talked about in school to warn woman about it, because its really easy for them to fall into it. Seems like japan should start doing the same.

 

[GHG]

Even though it covers a story from a while ago, if you want to see how dark and messed up things can get watch "Missing: the Lucy Blackman case" on Netflix.

 

[jason10mm]

Damn, what kind of racket lets a guy gather a bevy of women selling themselves for sex in order to pay for sex with him? Even the most deranged harem VN doesn't get that wild

 

[SJRB]

This stuff is both sad and pathetic in equal measure. I see a person who appears to never have worked a day in their lives, getting kicked out of the family and its money and is now doing this stuff to stay afloat. I have no sympathy for this stuff.

I feel for those girls though. This shit is messed up.

The twist in the first video makes an already fucked up situation ultra-fucked. Do the girlfriends even know?

 

[InterMusketeer]

Reminds me of that famous meme of a Japanese otaku saying that real women stink and that they can't possibly compete with 2D waifus. A growing number of Japanese are obsessed with fantasies and don't want to bother with normal, imperfect people and relationships.

They still desire companionship though, and find it in these bizarre places. How desperate do these people have to be to go along with this stuff? I feel sorry for the victims, but I've got to question why didn't put even a fraction of the time and effort into finding someone normal.

 

[TwinB242]

what about hostess clubs? I feel like those most be worse because men are in general more desperate.

 

[Sakura]

what about hostess clubs? I feel like those most be worse because men are in general more desperate.

I feel like men are less susceptible to these sorts of things.
And by that I mean men are very much more likely to go cold on a girl, or go chase after other girls at these kinds of establishments.

Reminds me of that famous meme of a Japanese otaku saying that real women stink and that they can't possibly compete with 2D waifus. A growing number of Japanese are obsessed with fantasies and don't want to bother with normal, imperfect people and relationships.

They still desire companionship though, and find it in these bizarre places. How desperate do these people have to be to go along with this stuff? I feel sorry for the victims, but I've got to question why didn't put even a fraction of the time and effort into finding someone normal.

Let's be real here, it's probably like 0.001% of women that go to these kinds of places.

 

[EviLore]

what about hostess clubs? I feel like those most be worse because men are in general more desperate.

Well, for one, I don't think the men generally go and become prostitutes in order to pay for more hostess time!

I’m sure some do get taken for a ride and bankrupt themselves over a pretty face, as is the way of the world.

 

[EviLore]

Here’s an interview of a top host…




He’s very candid. Proud of encouraging a girl from a rich family to end up working in a brothel in order to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars of his host fees. Among many other girls who were part time workers and became prostitutes in order to pay for time with him.

Sees himself as more valuable than Ichiro Suzuki.

The interviewer seems very into it. Most of the YouTube comments, too. I guess this is the culture of current_year around the world.

 

[EviLore]

Can really see some of the unspoken elements with this Vice Japan feature:



The mild-mannered host Naoki spends 60,000 yen/month on his hair, doesn’t drink alcohol, and has seemingly mainstream TV appearances and is part of some kind of boy band.

But toward the end of the video one of his subordinate coworkers brushes off an order and talks back to him, and he switches modes instantly, hitting the guy in the face and speaking like a gangster.

Then back to normal a few seconds later.

100% underworld with a shiny facade.

 

[ahtlas7]

This is a crazy case. A scammer who looses it over a host.

 

[Aurelius]

Weirdly enough, a lot of the girls that get addicited to hosts are hostesses themselves.

 

[E-Cat]

Imagine how much pussy those top hosts must be getting. They're like the anti-incels, getting unwanted attention every day.

 

[thefool]

Japan is such a culture shock

 

[Toots]

experiencing the fantasy of Sephiroth charming them

But seriously who could resist that ?

But more seriously, it's sad to see people preying on other in a society where everyone is so starving for affection.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

It's bizarre and sad. It sometimes felt like love is kinda dead in Japan when I was working there. A lot of my female co-workesr would complain about their husbands. He never cooks, I never get flowers, the last time we went on holiday was our honeymoon etc...

Of course there are exceptions, but then also you get the acceptance of cheating (as per the vid above), the widespread commercialisation of human connection with shit like host clubs and then it seems work takes precedence over romance post marriage with the sacrifices for company culture.

 

[Hudo]

Well, every culture has things that other cultures don't understand. As long as no one gets hurt, let them do what they want.

 

[Tams]

Imagine how much pussy those top hosts must be getting. They're like the anti-incels, getting unwanted attention every day.

Most don't sleep with their clients, if only because generates jealousy amongst their clients.

 

[E-Cat]

Most don't sleep with their clients, if only because generates jealousy amongst their clients.

No, I meant in order to be a top host one most possess the requisite looks and charisma to get attention outside of the job, too. It's like their attractiveness is verified by natural selection by way of capitalism, the most valid form of proof there is.

 

[EviLore]

This is a crazy case. A scammer who looses it over a host.

Living in capsule hotels despite scamming guys for millions of dollars, just to have a bit more money to blow at the host club. What a world!

Honestly, though, her scamming system is so obvious and low level. If you give a woman hundreds of thousands of dollars when you’re not even in a relationship with her, come on now, have some basic life skills. Be wary of Nigerian princes, too…

Most don't sleep with their clients, if only because generates jealousy amongst their clients.

In the full length documentary from the OP, the guys explain that they have two modes. One is for the one-off girls who straightforwardly want to pay to hook up with a hot guy for the night. The hosts go through with that.

The other mode is for girls who are looking for love. They lead those girls on indefinitely and don’t have sex with them, encouraging them to spend huge amounts of money for incremental romantic progress.

 

[ManaByte]

Japan is such a culture shock

 

[nush]

the guys explain that they have two modes. One is for the one-off girls who straightforwardly want to pay to hook up with a hot guy for the night. The hosts go through with that.

The other mode is for girls who are looking for love. They lead those girls on indefinitely and don’t have sex with them, encouraging them to spend huge amounts of money for incremental romantic progress.

Regardless of the gender of the host/ess they work the same.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

The other mode is for girls who are looking for love. They lead those girls on indefinitely and don’t have sex with them, encouraging them to spend huge amounts of money for incremental romantic progress.

That just sounds like my college dating experience tbh…

 

[EviLore]

Regardless of the gender of the host/ess they work the same.

Yeah:



Same concept. She maintains a lot of faux relationships, gets the guys to buy her $10k drinks while listening to their problems, sleeps with a lot of them but isn’t required to, etc.

The power dynamics feel a lot different though, at least in this instance.

 

[RavenSan]

stealth Yakuza thread?

Spoiler

Yeah the whole thing is super weird. I've gotten questions off my wife wtf I was playing when she walked in during those bits

 

[EviLore]

stealth Yakuza thread?

Spoiler

Yeah the whole thing is super weird. I've gotten questions off my wife wtf I was playing when she walked in during those bits

Kabukicho feels like a second home after enough Yakuza games are under your belt! Just avoid the Nigerian touts in the real life version.

 

[nush]

Yeah:



Same concept. She maintains a lot of faux relationships, gets the guys to buy her $10k drinks while listening to their problems, sleeps with a lot of them but isn’t required to, etc.

The power dynamics feel a lot different though, at least in this instance.

Although my experience in Chinese KTV clubs it's the same ballpark. My #1 rule was to reject the first women put in front of you because they are the biggest game players. These are the biggest earners for the club and have learned a whole suite of skills to extract cash from you. It does not matter that they are the " Hottest" if you know that, because every time a new girl will give you a better experience either because she does not know how shit works or she does and is super agreeable because she wants to build a client list and also be a top girl.

However the Chinese men did not see the world presented to them as I did.

 

[jason10mm]

Yeah:



Same concept. She maintains a lot of faux relationships, gets the guys to buy her $10k drinks while listening to their problems, sleeps with a lot of them but isn’t required to, etc.

The power dynamics feel a lot different though, at least in this instance.

Surely being with these women is in itself a status symbol for the men, just instead of a sparkly Rolex it's saying you have the #1 hostess number in your favorites list, right?

I really can't fathom this, who needs to pay all that money for drinks just to get some emotional support when Gaf gold is just $50/yr and all the advice is free?

 

[violence]

I’ve never played the yakuza games but I’m assuming this was a side mission

 

[jason10mm]

Although my experience in Chinese KTV clubs it's the same ballpark. My #1 rule was to reject the first women put in front of you because they are the biggest game players. These are the biggest earners for the club and have learned a whole suite of skills to extract cash from you. It does not matter that they are the " Hottest" if you know that, because every time a new girl will give you a better experience either because she does not know how shit works or she does and is super agreeable because she wants to build a client list and also be a top girl.

However the Chinese men did not see the world presented to them as I did.

So what is it you are negotiating for? The "first women" string you along more before sex? Or do the "new girls" give you more time and better drinks for less money because the pricing for that stuff isn't fixed?

 

[nush]

So what is it you are negotiating for? The "first women" string you along more before sex? Or do the "new girls" give you more time and better drinks for less money because the pricing for that stuff isn't fixed?

I can only talk about China. There's no negotiation with "the house". There's only 2 levels, girls sits with you, acts like a girlfriend for the night, that's base level. She is not required or forced to go to level 2 which is to go home with you. If she does that she can earn double money but as it's happening outside the club there are absolutely no guaranteed service levels and you have no recourse if she's " Shit" .

So you need to read the room to have a good bang for your buck.

 

[SlimySnake]

Japan is such a culture shock

Ok, this settles it. im moving to Japan and marrying a Japanese woman just so i can cheat on her with prostitutes.

 

[jason10mm]

I can only talk about China. There's no negotiation with "the house". There's only 2 levels, girls sits with you, acts like a girlfriend for the night, that's base level. She is not required or forced to go to level 2 which is to go home with you. If she does that she can earn double money but as it's happening outside the club there are absolutely no guaranteed service levels and you have no recourse if she's " Shit" .

So you need to read the room to have a good bang for your buck.