The promised land for men the rising popularity of hosts in contemporary japanese society

A PROMISED LAND FOR MEN: THE RISING POPULARITY OF HOSTS IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE SOCIETY REIKO YAMAGISHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2009 A PROMISED LAND FOR MEN: THE RISING POPULARITY OF HOSTS IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE SOCIETY REIKO YAMAGISHI (M.A. Women’s Studies, The University of Alabama) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS One of my professors once told me, “Writing a dissertation is one of the most stressful events of life.” Perhaps. But I did not find this to be true in my case. My dissertation, on the other hand, was my lifesaver. On April 12th 2006, six months after I had returned to NUS from fieldwork in Japan, I was rear-ended by a car which had not stopped at the stop-sign at the road junction, while cycling to an appointment. The accident left me physical, financial and emotional drained. On top of having to write my dissertation, I had to look for doctors and lawyers who could help me. Being a foreigner, and student, did not help. My unfamiliarity with legal and medical matters caused me to be misled and taken advantage of. The ongoing search for medical and legal support, attending physical therapy, and consulting with lawyers all-in-all was extremely time-consuming, difficult, and emotionally taxing, taking away so much valuable time from my writing. And was it not Shakespeare who said “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.”? My life during this period proved him right. Since the accident, like the script of a bad soap-opera, more and more unfortunate incidents unfolded. I felt I was in a dark tunnel that had no exit. It was however the writing of my dissertation that saved me from collapse. I knew that what I had done was something new and interesting. I believed that my work would contribute to studies in this field of research. But most importantly, I was totally in love with my research. Yet, the completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the kind assistance of many people helping me over the last two years. I would like to take the opportunity here then to thank all these people for their support. I had the best advisers. Prof. Maribeth Erb and Prof. Hing Ai Yun did everything they could possibly to support me in getting this dissertation done. They constantly challenged me intellectually, while at the same time they were mentors who were so encouraging, providing emotional support. They believed in me and that kept me going. At one point, it became critical that I obtained some financial support in order to continue with the Ph.D. program. It was Prof. Tong Chee Kiong and Prof. Pauline Straughan who lent their hand in this area. Without their kindness, it would have been impossible for me to continue. Prof. Thang Leng Leng, Prof. Chua Beng Huat, and Dr. Eric Thompson: thank you very much for your great advice and continuous encouragement. Saroja and Chaar, I truly appreciate your sincere concern and unconditional offer of help to alleviate my pain. And Roland at the Fujitsu repair center, your technical support was very essential for me. Finding doctors who understand patients’ physical and emotional pain and who treat patients as individual human-beings was amazingly hard. A visit to the doctor would often be stressful because of the negative and unsupportive attitude. But I have also met caring doctors and nurses over the last two years. Dr. Lee and nurse Joyce at the acupuncture clinic at NUS, chiropractor Nancy, masseurs Suzanna and Lay Hoon, and i surgeon Siegal Bernie—you were all so inspiring and your friendship has meant a lot to me. Life without laughter is not worth living. Especially during hardship. My friends and flatmates —Noorman, Grace, Meisen, Bambi, Charan, Naoko, Maki, Geklin, Momoko, Rob, Nhidi, and Taberez—were always there for me, helped me whenever I was in need, and most importantly, made me laugh. And I would like to especially thank Kelvin Low and his family—his parents Mr. and Mrs. Low and his brother Les—for having taken great care of me and for treating me like family. This dissertation would not have been completed without the tremendous help and dedication of Mr. Eric Goh. He is an excellent editor who is positive and encouraging. And he has tried his best to support me, unconditionally. Lastly, Ai Jin, this dissertation is dedicated to you. One day she said, There is a man who has nothing and when he finds ten cents on the street, he picks it up and makes a call to his friend for help. Reiko, we still have steps to take, so we have to take them. And when we run out of steps, we think of how we can push it further until there is really nothing more to take. What I have learnt in the past two years is that “life is hard and unfair.” My journey has been rough and rocky. But there was always Ai Jin, who tried her best to make my path as smooth as possible, and had put her head together with mine to find a step. My journey continues, and the tunnel called “life” seems to be too long and too dark sometimes. But I know I will make it. Whenever I think of you, Ai Jin, I can picture you crying and smiling with the joy of seeing me happy again. I will make this happen. Yes, we will be smiling together—soon. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . TABLE OF CONTENTS . SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page .i .iii .vii . . .1 PART I: SETTING THE SCENE I. II. INTRODUCTION . . . . . Prelude: A Taste of the Hosts’ Wonderland . . . The Research Focus . . . . . . Rationale of Study . . . . . . Research Limitation, Objectives and Questions. . . Issues in the Representation of Hosts and Operational Terminologies. . . . a) Japanese Terminologies . . . . . b) Hosts as Sex Workers? . . . . . c) Junior Hosts vs. Senior Hosts . . . . d) The Modern Host Club Industry vs. the Host Club Industry, and the Modern Host Club Industry as “Industry” . e) Profiles of Hosts and the Media Sources . . . Thesis Structure . . . . . . .24 .25 .26 METHODOLOGICAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES . .29 . . . . . . . . .29 .30 .30 .36 .39 .44 .50 .56 . Constructive Interpretivist Approach . . . Outlining the Fieldwork . . . . a) The Research Site . . . . . b) Research Methods and the Research Participants . c) Participant Observation . . . . d) Gaining Access . . . . . Game: The Nature of the Researcher-Hosts Relationship Issues of Ethics: “Covert” Participant observation . III. .1 .9 .14 .18 .20 .20 .20 .23 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: WHEN HOSTS BECOMES “OTOKO NO AKOGARE” (MALE YEARNING) . .62 Feminist Theories and Sex Workers Sex Tourism and Male Sex Workers When Hosts Gained “Citizenship”. Charismatic Hosts in the MHI Marginal-Cultural Brokers . Akogare . . . .63 .69 .74 .79 .86 .91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii PART II: BACKGROUND OF THE MHI IV. V. THE JAPANESE POSTWAR HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY . .98 The Birth of the Japanese Postwar Hegemonic Masculinity . a) The Mechanism of the Japanese Management System (JMS) b) The Salaryman as an Ideological Class . . . The Crisis of the Hegemonic Masculinity in the Postwar Era. a) The Fall of the Salaryman . . . . . b) The Youth and Their Unemployment Issues . . Rebirth of the Hegemonic Masculinity . . . a) The Emergence of a “New Japanese Management System” (NJMS). . . . . . . . The Hegemonic Masculinity Deconstructed or Revised? . .98 .98 .102 .108 .108 .111 .115 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MHI . The 1960s – 1970s . . . . The 1980s – Early 1990s . . . The Mid 1990s – the Mid 2000s . . “Industrialization” of the Post-Bubble Sex Industry VI. .115 .123 . . .130 . . . . . . . . .132 .137 .143 .151 INVITATION TO THE WORLD OF MODERN HOST CLUBS. .157 Defining a Modern Host Club. . . . . .157 Location of Host Clubs in Kabukichō . . . .163 The Price Setting . . . . . .167 Types of Host Clubs . . . . . . .170 Legitimacy of the Modern Host Club Business . . .173 a) Opening Hours . . . . . . .173 b) Legal Minorities and Shizumeru—Sinking Clients. . .174 c) Permit and Nibu Eigyō (The Second-Part Business). . .176 The New Marketing and Recruitment System and the Development of the MHI . . . . . . .181 Female Sex Workers as the Ultimate Target . . . .188 Temporary Escape for Sex Workers: When Women Patronize a Host Club . . . .191 PART III: THE WORK OF HOSTS VII. COMMODIFICATION OF HOSTS: STRATEGIES TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS . . .202 The Intimate Therapeutic Approach. . The Strategies of Doing Irokoi . . . . .202 .205 . . . . iv Other Strategies VIII. IX. . . . . . . .216 THE LABOUR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE MHI . .220 The Open-Door Entry System. . . . . a) Everybody Gets a Job . . . . . b) You Get a Job, You Start a Job . . . . The “Ultimate” Merit-Based System in the MHI . . a) The Semi-Independent Employment and the Merit-Based Wage System . . . b) Rewarding the Best, Punishing the Rest: The Host Club Power System . . . . b-1) The “Number-One” as The Brand Name: The Ranking System . . . b-2) The More Money, The More Authority: The Title System . . . . b-3) The “Carrot and the Stick” Management System b-4) “Endeavour Worship”: The Host Club Propaganda .220 .220 .226 .228 PRODUCING “CHARISMATIC” HOSTS . .247 . . Transformation of an Image of Hegemonic Masculinity . The Host as a New Entrepreneur: The Organizational Representation of Hosts. . The Host as an “Androgynous Professional Outlaw”: Men’s X. The Host as a Yandoru (Young Idol): Host Clubs and Happy. .229 .232 .233 .236 .238 .242 .247 .251 .257 .266 PART IV: DESIRES TO WORK AS A HOST AND ITS PARADOX X. XI. DEFINING THE HOST AS A “MARGINAL MAN”. . .276 Characteristics of Hosts in Kabukichō . . a) The Host as a Japanese Heterosexual Man . b) The Host as Young Man . . . . c) The Host from Outside Tokyo . . . d) The Host as Lacking Elite Educational Background e) The Host as a Trendy Androgynous Man . . Varieties among Marginal Men . . . a) Furyō (Bad Boys) . . . . . b) Furītā or Job Hoppers . . . . c) Dream Seekers . . . . . The Host as a “Lovable Stranger” . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278 .278 .279 .281 .282 .284 .289 .289 .290 .292 .294 ALLURE OF WORKING IN THE MHI. “Akogare” (Yearning) . . . a) The Production A Charismatic Host. . . . .301 .301 .303 . . . . . . v b) The Desire to be a King (Ou). . . . c) The World of Flamboyance (Hanayaka na sekai) . Entrepreneurial Spirit: Money, the Entrepreneur and the Sense of Challenge. a) Money and the Ultimate Merit-Based System . . b) Keieisha (A Business Owner). . . . . c) Yarigai (Rewarding) and the Merit-Based System . Go To Tokyo, Go To Kabukichō . . . . a) The Lure of Tokyo: Tokyo as the Symbol of “Success” . b) The Lure of Kabukichō: Kabukichō as the Zenith for Hosts XII. .315 .316 .321 .323 .326 .327 .338 THE PARADOX OF THE ULTIMATE MERIT-BASED SYSTEM Reasons behind the High Turnover Rate. The Neoliberal Blues in the MHI . XIII. .309 .312 . . .345 .351 CONCLUSION: BEHIND THE DYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE MHI .362 Future Research Implications . . Epilogue and the Future of Host Clubs BIBLIRIOGRAPHY APEENDIX A . APPENDIX B . APPENDIX C . APPENDIX D . APPENDIX E . APPENDIX F . APPENDIX G. APPENDIX H . APPENDIX I . APPENDIX J . APPENDIX K . APPENDIX L . APPENDIX M. GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . .367 .370 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 .404 .405 .411 .412 .413 .414 .420 .423 .426 .428 .430 .433 .436 .439 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . . . . . . . .vi . . . . . . . . . .32 .33 .164 Illustration A: Map of Tokyo . . . Illustration B: Map of the Central Shinjuku Area Illustration C: Map of Kabukichō . . vi SUMMARY Since the mid/end of the 1990s Japan has witnessed the rapid growth of an adult entertainment business called the “host club” (hosuto kurabu) where young Japanese heterosexual men—hosts—provide young Japanese women, often sex workers themselves, with various kinds of “companionship.” Despite the worst and longest economic recession in the 1990s which made Japan suffer severely for a decade, and although most of the night entertainment spots historically served by females targeting were heterosexual male clients, host clubs continued to grow. And it was during this time that the job of hosts, which was stigmatized previously, gained positive social acceptance, attracting thousands of men into the industry. This thesis aims to analyze the nature and development of the Modern Host Club Industry (MHI). It will illustrate and examine the historical development of host clubs, the causes of its growth, the characteristics of the business activity, and women’s motivations in patronizing hosts. However, the primary focus will be on the rising popularity of this type of work, that of being a host. Yet, this thesis goes beyond just describing hosts’ motivations and the nature of their work. Their accounts showed complex connections between their motivations and the nature of the labour system employed by the MHI, woven together with the overall societal changes. The thesis thus examines the popularity of the job of hosts in a multitiered context: 1) the micro (motivations of men entering and working in the MHI), 2) the meso (the nature of the work and the labour system in the MHI), and 3) the macro (socioeconomic structures revolving around male work in Japan). It is my thesis that the magnification of the MHI, and the popularity of the career of hosts, were triggered by the economic recession of the 1990s, which resulted in the deconstruction of the Japanese postwar hegemonic masculinity—the “salaryman.” With the Japanese Management System (JMS), the postwar government had institutionalized the male worker system known as the “salaryman” (sararīman)—a male corporate whitecollared worker employed by Japanese corporations. The salaryman also represented a specific state-led labour management system that was the core institution that played a significant role in the postwar nation-building process. Borrowing the concept from Robert Connell (1987), the salaryman is what I refer to in this thesis as the “Japanese hegemonic masculinity”. On the other hand, I define men working in the MHI as “marginal-cultural brokers”, those who intentionally or unintentionally deviate from the hegemonic masculine life course that is the salaryman’s. When the hegemonic masculinity and its work system experienced a crisis, the work of hosts, which is totally different in philosophy to that of the salaryman’s, came into its own to gain positive recognition in society. At the same time, together with the media, the MHI began to actively advocate a new image of hosts and its neoliberal labour model as a better system, in comparison to the salaryman’s. And there were “marginal-cultural brokers,” who had strong desires of making it “big,” while often struggling to find a job during the severe economic downturn. This thesis thus reveals the structural and vii perceptional changes of Japanese contemporary masculinities—male work, career aspirations, and the qualities of a “legitimate” male worker in the new age—through the window of the host club phenomenon. viii him in 2006. He said he appreciates hosts so much because without their success, this magazine would not be so widely recognized. He was more confident in publicizing Men’s X’s strong association with hosts by 2006. 7) The publisher for which Editor Tanaka works has a magazine similar to Men’s X, which I refer to as Men’s A. Different crews are involved in the production of each magazine and they are rivals. These magazines have contrasting contents as well. Men’s A targets the younger group of men (gyaruo) aged between 15 to 20. According to Editor Tanaka, fashion items introduced in these two magazines are not too different, but their concepts are. In a comparison of these two, Editor Tanaka said Men’s X is based on the concept of kireime onii (a beautiful big brother) who takes a risk and challenges society. Contrarily, according to Editor Tanaka, Men’s A’s icon is gyaruo who does not want to take any risks but claims to be “outlaw,’ not to society in general but only within the context of a relationship with women or people who are socially weaker than them. Their concern is having fun and/or having sex with girls. Editor Tanaka proudly said that Men’s X is the evolution of Men’s A because unlike Men’s A, with hosts as models, Men’s X projects professionalism in male workers and contains criticism of the Japanese hegemonic masculinity at the same time. 8) Since their focus is to sell “images” of hosts, but not their job, readers of the magazine are not informed about their job. Editor Tanaka said he did not want people to think this is another kyōshūnyū zasshi which also features hosts extensively together with their want-ads of sex-related work for women. Unlike kyōshūnyū zasshi, in which names of hosts and host clubs they work for appear right next to their photos in magazines, no such information appears in Men’s X. However, when private lifestyles and fashions of some of these models are featured in the magazine, their occupation is listed. Also the magazine contains advertisements of host clubs at the back. There, their occupation also appears in the ads. Editor Tanaka said unless readers pay close attention to the details, or unless they have seen these hosts in other media, such as TV shows, they would not know what their jobs are. However, Editor Tanaka also said that one of the most popular sections in Men’s X is the part introducing private lifestyles of the models (hosts)—their homes, cars, clothing, accessories, etc. In this case, their occupational titles appear. Although Editor Tanaka emphasized that most readers don’t know their occupation, I think they do, especially because hosts are highly exposed in the media today. The elements discussed here help readers to guess their occupation, especially since the magazine has often been introduced in public in relation to hosts, such as in the Japanese Wikipedia. 9) The Italian flavor also appears in Leon. Like Men’s X, this magazine also rejects using celebrities in order to make it more “realistic” and approachable for readers. The main model used in this magazine is Panzetta Girolamo, an Italian man born in 1962. Here too, “Italianness” is using as an important component for men to be “choiwaru oyai” and “choimote oyaji. Kishida (2005) said the selection of the model was due to 1) 430 popularity and stylish image of Italian fashion in Japan and 2) his comedic personality as a model. 10) Many popular hosts have their own blogs. But Host Hoshi’s blog is professionally designed to present himself as an idol-like-host with many professionally-taken photos of him and listing event schedules which are held all over Japan. His popularity can be evident here: 263,000 sites were found by typing his name at the Japanese Google site on April 1st 2007. 11) Because of this, when I first bought an issue, I did not know that it was a want-ad magazine for female sex workers. Till one of the editors of such magazines explained to me that it is a want-ads magazines for sex workers, I truly believed that it is a magazine about hosts for host fans. This is an indication of how much Happy and other similar magazines extensively feature hosts and present them like pop-idols. 12) Other kyōshūnyū zasshi then followed the trend and began to feature hosts comprehensively. During my fieldwork, I encountered five kyōshūnyū zasshi which featured hosts as their main content. 13) The emergence of fūdoru follows the trend of the pop-idol culture in Japan. The Japanese pop-idol culture is said to have begun in the mid-1960s and peaked in the 1980s, growing concurrently with the economic growth and urbanization of the nation. During the economic crisis of the 1990s, pop-idols became “passé” (Aoyagi 2005: 83). Fuudoru also emerged at the peak of the pop-idol culture and the trend still continues to be popular not only among the fūzoku business but also in the kyabakura industry. Popular kyabajō are picked up in various forms of media like hosts are although not as extensively as hosts are. 14) According to Yamada (1999), the event has been successful. At the beginning, there were only 20-30 people in the media who attended the event. But he said that about 3,000 female sex workers were nominated by male readers and 294,000 nominations were voted by the late 1990s. 15) Scholars on Japanese pop-idol culture have noted that in the case of Japan, production companies of pop-idols take different strategies compared to the U.S. They actively organize events where fans can have direct “bodily engagement” with fans (Yano 2004: 45), such as handshaking ceremonies, autograph ceremonies, and fan club events. The aim is to create “intimacy” between fans and idols and solidarity among fans (Aoyagi 2005; Stevens 2004: Yano 1997 & 2004). The concept of fūdoru goes one step beyond this. Fans of fūdoru can actually purchase her service, being able to personally tailor his idol for his sexual fantasy, and exchanging his experience with other male “fans.” 431 APPENDIX L Information on “Marginal Men”—Hosts (Chapter 10) 1) Similarly, the age of hosts covered at one of these magazines (Yan Yan) in September 2001 were as follow: Two were 16 years old, four were 17, thirteen were 18, twelve were 19, twenty-one were 20, thirteen were 21, nine were 22 years old, two were 23, three were 24, two were 25, and there was three hosts who were 26, 27 and 29 years old. Similarly, according to another publication that interviewed 700 hosts, the percentages were: less than 20 years old (9%), 21-23 (33%), 24-26 (39%), 27-30 (16%), 31 over (3%). This book is published by the same publishing firm issuing one of the most popular kyōshūnyū zasshi largely featuring hosts (C’s Mook 1999). 2) Newcomers and juniors who not have enough earnings and who have no where to stay in Tokyo often live in a dorm provided by owners. But hosts who are from outside Tokyo and have already lived in Tokyo for a while for their schooling or working tend to have their own places like in the case of Host Yūto. Or, in the case of junior hosts like Host Kazu who came from northern Japan and worked as a chef in Tokyo before working as a host, he hops around to his friends’ places. He had no money to rent his own place but had friends in central Tokyo. He said they did not mind because of differences in their daily schedules. He comes back home around a.m. which is a time for them to wake up to go to work in a company. So he said that they are in fact happy to have someone who makes wake them up and cooks for them everyday (he was a chef). 3) Similarly, when I conducted the participant observation of hosts working in Club Desire in December 2005, only one out of 16 hosts was from Tokyo and the rest were from Saitama, Okinawa, Miyagi, Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Kanagawa. Kyōshūnyū zasshi featuring hosts in Kabukichō also illustrated the point. For example, out of forty eight prefectures in Japan, hosts who were introduced in one of the magazine issues Yan Yan (2001 Sep) were from twenty-three different prefectures. 4) Though I not have substantial data on the “previous career” of hosts, according to the book that interviewed 700 hosts, the ten most frequent former jobs that they engaged in were salaryman, high-school/college student, bartender, musician, construction worker, staff at pachinko shop, beautician, waiter, cook and staff at kyabakura (C’s Mook. 1999. Host daishuki [I like hosts]. Tokyo: Shiizu joohoo shuppan.). Reporter Ken who has interviewed about 400 hosts, however, said that only about five of them were former salarymen. This was the same impression I had during my research. Although some media emphasized that some hosts were former salarymen, I did not meet many of them, but only three (Host Yūto, Mr. Nagata and Host Haru). Also the term “salaryman” is tricky. When hosts use it, they see a salaryman to be any formal day time work which provides workers with a monthly salary. If they previously worked at leading companies or a very-small scale one is 432 unknown as I understand that in Japanese context, it is rude to ask someone a name of the company where he works. 5) The “androgynization” of men is not unique to modern Japanese society. Historically, until the Meiji era (1868-1912), men employed similar “beauty works” addressed here. The Meiji was the only era in which men were prohibited from applying “beauty work” because of the militarization of the nation. During this time, the Meiji government institutionalized a patriarchal gender hierarchy, transforming men into soldiers and women into submissive wives. As a part of their political aim, the government prohibited the traditional male application of “beauty work” (Horiuchi 2002; Ishida 2000; Watanabe 2001). Though this thesis will not go into the theoretical discussions on the transformation of “male beauty” in Japan, I would like to address that the recent androgynization of Japanese young men is not recognized as a deconstruction of the ideological patriarchal power relationship. Some scholars theorize that this phenomenon indicates Japanese men are now included as a part of the fashion industry (Kumada 2006; Watanabe 2001). Kumada (2006) discusses that the fashion industry has been important for the Japanese economy because the nation lacks natural resources. Miller (2003) however argues that the “androgynization” of Japanese young men is not the evidence of the westernization of what male and female beauty should be, making Asians wanting to look like white people. Nor, she argues that it is youth subculture or a gay trend. Instead, she discusses that this is due to an increasing women’s positive perception towards such male images and also due to a youth resistance against the symbolic model of the salaryman as an ideal masculine image of Japan. Similarly, a Japanese scholar/psychiatrist Kayama (2003) points out that androgynization of young men is due to the increasing tendency among young men wanting to be popular with women and actively transforming themselves for the purpose. In our interview, Mr. Tanaka also highlighted this tendency. He said that young Japanese women no longer find macho men attractive. And because the Japanese modern society allows men to express such desires of wanting to be popular with women in a more direct manner than ever before, men actively participate in self-transformation just to meet the demands of women (personal interview 2006). 6) The recent trend of male “beauty works” covers a wide range of practices and disciplines: 1) dieting to obtain the “ideal” slender body figure or wearing underwear to gain the same effect, 2) making a conscious effort in skincare and removing body hair, 3) trimming eyebrows, 4) going to ēsute (aesthetic) salons, 5) being conscious of their odor, 5) using cosmetics, such as foundations, eyebrow-pencils and lipsticks, 6) styling and dying their hair, 5) piercing and wearing various types of accessories (Ishida 2000; Kuroki 1998; Miller 2003; Yamamoto 1999). Such strong interest in fashion and “beautification” among Japanese young men became evident around the mid 1990s in Japan. Among 16 major fashion magazines targeting men, nine of them were issued after 1995 (Horiuchi 2002). Shiseido’s survey shows that 38% of young men in the Tokyo region applied eyebrow trimming in 1996, and the number increased to 62% in 1999 (Horiuchi 2002). In 1996, a publishing firm, Bauhouse, 433 published a magazine called BiDan (a short form of bidanshi: a beautiful boy) which targets “boys who want to be beautiful.” Every month over 300 readers of BiDan applied to work as a model for this magazine. Since 1997, the firm holds a “beautiful boy” contest every year (Henshuu kaigi 2000). In 1998, Shiseido launched a new brand, Bolty, selling fine toiletries for young men in their late teens to early twenties (Shiseido fine toiletry 1998). The department store, Isetan, opened a new store in 2003 which specializes solely in male products. It has become so successful that other major department stores followed its lead (Honda 2005; “Otoko wo sodateru fukuuriba” 2003; “Otokogokoro wo kusugure” 2004). 7) Host Taka’s reaction to hosts around him was similar to mine. I grew up in a family which has passed down a carpentry business to the first son over the last 300 years. The environment in which I was raised was so different from the conventional salaryman’s family which I first noticed when I went to high school, one that was ranked third highest in the prefecture. I remembered that I was so surprised to know that all of my friends’ fathers were “salarymen” and financially they were well-off. Contrary to my high school, during my elementary and junior high school times, my friends’ fathers’ jobs were varied. So it was the first time in my life that I recognized “class” differences. My mother still tells me that during that time, I often told her that “I wish I was from a rich family.” 434 APPENDIX M Information on Entry Motivations of Hosts (Chapter 11) 1) This is called “dōgyōsha mawari.” It means going to visit a person who works in the same industry. When someone working in the sex industry is celebrating anniversaries, people in the same industry who know her/him visit to celebrate the event. This means they have to buy bottles for the person. This is a common practice in the sex industry. According to my informant, a host usually spends 100,000 yen when they visit another host for his birthday or other anniversaries. 2) Dom Perignon is usually the most expensive alcohol sold in host clubs. There are four different kinds which classified to be what they call as “white,” “rosé,” “gold,” and “platinum” in the MHI. It is about 40,000 yen for a bottle of white, 100,000 yen for rosé, 250,000 yen for gold and 750,000 yen for platinum (before tax). 3) What happens at this moment is that, the majority of hosts leave from their tables to drink Champagne. There is still at least one host who remains at a table and serves a client at each table. But whenever this happened, I felt I was left alone. Everybody’s attention—both hosts and all other clients—are on the host and the client surrounded by other hosts and thanking her for the purchase. So as a client, all of a sudden, I lost attention from the hosts sitting at my table. However, from the perspective of hosts, this can be a good sales strategy for them to increase competition among female clients, especially if these women nominate the same host. These women might then begin to compete with each other, buying expensive bottles for their host, in order to get more attention from the host. 4) According to Takasaki (2007) who worked as a host in Kabukichō before, bottles of champagne that are used in the pyramid are paid by one of futokyaku of the birthday host. Usually, more than ten bottles are used. Cost of a bottle of champagne ranges from 50,000 yen to 1,000,000 yen. On top of it, tax is about 35%. So this can be an expensive gift to her host. 5) This happens before they close for the night as the finale. Everybody’s attention is then on that host at this moment. I have heard them singing and I was surprised at their vocal quality. They sang very well and perhaps that is why some hosts even debut as professional singers. 6) Mr. Kai is the host who established two records in the Kabukichō’s host club scene. The first one is to hold the number-one title for a consecutive 24 months. The second one is the highest monthly sales discussed here. This was his birthday month. Topranked hosts can have their birthday event on their birthday month. This is said to be the month that they can use to increase their sales most in a year by inviting all of their regular clients and asking them to buy him an expensive bottle of alcohol. 435 7) His story does not end here. After all the effort he made, he failed the interview at the club. This renowned host club had higher standards of screening than others. When he failed the interview, he said his future looked bleak. He then started working parttime at a hotel. One day at the gym, a man in his 40s asked him why he was at the gym at midday but not at work. He explained what had happened to him, and the man said, “Which host clubs you want to work for? I will let you join in any host club you are interested in.” He said, “Club Virtuoso.” The man arranged the meeting for him with two managers of that club. Host Yūto, the man, and two managers met in a fancy Italian restaurant in Aokyama, Tokyo and had a dinner which cost him 200,000 yen. But, he got the job. He said though the man sometimes visit the host club and invites him over to his table, “I am so afraid to ask who he really is. People said that he is really powerful so I am just afraid to know who he really is.” 8) This is also similar to hosts introduced in Kyōshūnyū zasshi and websites featuring hosts. For example, the majority of hosts introduced in one of these magazines (Yan Yan 2001 Sept) have a dream of becoming an entrepreneur such as “I want to start my own business,” “ I want to run my own business and use my time as I wish to do,” “My dream is to build a hotel in Las Vegas,” “I want to be a race-horse owner,” “ I want to open an Italian restaurant,” or “ I want to save money and live in Hawaii.” 9) According to hosts working there, about 40% of clients are men in their middle age. But one night when I was there at a.m., 70% of tables had at least a man. The majority of them were in their 50-60s with women in attendance. The majority of host clubs not allow male visitors unless female clients escort them. According to Mr. Maki, the owner of Club Virtuoso, he intentionally permits male visitors because 1) male clients spend more money and 2) the market has saturated due to the drastic increase in the MHI, scrambling for getting the same clientele—female sex workers. 10) As illustrated in Chapter 8, hosts’ rankings are determined based on their total sales of the previous month. Previous job performances and sales are not considered at all in their rankings. That is to say, technically, everybody gets a chance to be a numberone every month. 11) For example in 2003, the average unemployment rate in Japan was 5.3% but 7.8 % in Okinawa. The problem was most serious among the youth. It was 25% among the youth in 15-19 and 15.5% in 20-24 while the national average was 11.9% for the age group of 15-19 and 9.8% for 20-24. (Koyō no antei to shokugyō nōryoku no kaihatsu [Job stability and development of career skills]. Retrieved on May 3rd 2007 from http://www8.cao.go.jp/okinawa/pamphlet/sinkou_04/03.pdf) 12) In order to become a city designated by ordinance (seireitoshi) in Japan, it is required to have a population of 500,000. However, generally, a city with 1,000,000 residents is currently designated as seireitoshi (Retrieved on May 6th 2007 from http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%94%BF%E4%BB%A4%E6%8C%87%E5%AE%9 A%E9%83%BD%E5%B8%82). There are 13 seireitoshi in Japan (Fukagawa 2001). 436 13) From the year 2004 to 2006, Grand Prix was awarded to hosts in Kabukichō, but then in 2007, it was crowned to a host in Osaka. This indicates the trend of host clubs becoming more national as opposed to Tokyo-oriented as it had been. Information on hosts working outside Tokyo has become also available especially on the Internet while clients also seem to pay more attention to local hosts nowadays. 14) In Chapter 2, I discussed that all interviews that I obtained from my informants and conversation I had with them are not “facts” but their “stories.” In order to be marketable, or because of other intensions, they might have created stories to tell. This particular story told by Host Ryōta is a good example. His story sounded fictional and reminded me of fictional comics featuring hosts that I had encountered before, such as a famous comic series on hosts, Yaou (King of the Night), written by Ryō Kurashina. But again, in this study, my main concern is not to find out whether stories and profiles of hosts are “true,” but to relate their narratives. I treat their own descriptions as truths in this study although I tried my best to increase validity of my informants’ accounts by using methods of triangulations. 437 GLOSSARY *indicates jargon used in the MHI A *afutā (after): Literally, it means “after” but in an industrial sense, it means going out with clients who visited them that night after finishing their work at a host club. They go for drinks, meals, drinks, karaoke, etc. akasen (red-line): Areas which used to be allowed to run brothels till its abandonment in 1958. autorō (outlaw): A Japanese-English term. It means “outlaw.” B *bakudan (bomb): Rules that hosts must follow to work in the MHI bōi (boy): In this thesis, it indicates male waiters working in adult businesses such as hostess clubs, kyabakura, etc. *bakudan saito Literally, it means “the bomb site.” It is Internet sites that are accessible both from PC and hand phone. Female clients at host clubs use this site to gossip about hosts, spreading rumors to other clients. C *chūbako: See hako choimote oyaji: A middle-age men who are bit popular among women: Originally it was the popular catch-phrase used in Leon—a fashion magazine for middle-age men choiwaru: A bit bad or impish: Originally it was the popular catch-phrase used in Leon choiwaru oyaji: A middle-age men with a sense of being “bad boys”: Originally it was the popular catch-phrase used in Leon D datewaru: Dandy with a sense of being a bad boy: Originally it was the popular catch-phrase used in Leon datsu gakkouka: De-schooling 438 *dōhan Companying: There is a designated day when a host has to come to work with his client. This practice is called dōhan E *ēesu (ace): A client of hosts who has the greatest spending power F frītā (freeter): People between 15 to 34 years old who are either engaged in some kind of part-time work or who at least wish to have one even if currently they are not in school or are not helping in domestic work while being unemployed. The term was originally coined by Hirofumi Michisita in 1980s. At that time it had a positive message to young people who wanted to take up a challenge to make their dreams come true rather than following the salaryman path (Uenishi 2002). But currently this term refers to people who not engage in full-time jobs. furyō: Adolescent delinquency *futokyaku A thick client: a client of hosts who spends over 1,000,000 yen per month fūzoku: A categorical term that includes adult entertainment businesses that provide men with “nuki” (“pulling” or “removing”). In the Japanese sexual context, nuku (pull: a verb of nuki) means “ejaculate.” This is why fūzoku is also known as shasei sangyou (the ejaculation industry), aiming to make men ejaculate, theoretically without having sexual intercourse, because prostitution is illegal in Japan. According to Ōtsuki (1999), the term “fūzoku” originated from Japanese law which regulated night/adult entertainment businesses, which was originally called fūzoku eigyō torishimari hō (the Entertainment Establishments Control Law). There are many different kinds of businesses, such as herusu, imekura,and seikan, under this categorical umbrella. Unlike kybakakura which supposedly offers only “companionship” to men, some fūzoku is illegal by law in Japan since it involves sex. fūdoru Fūzoku & idol: a female pop-idol-like figure who is chosen from female sex workers engaged in fūzoku business. The emergence of fūdoru follows the trend of the pop-idol culture in Japan. The Japanese pop-idol culture is said to have begun in the mid-1960s and peaked in the 1980s, growing concurrently with the economic growth and urbanization of the nation. During the economic crisis of the 1990s, pop-idols became “passé” (Aoyagi 2005: 83). Fūdoru also emerged at the peak of the pop-idol culture and the practice continues to be popular not only among the fūzoku business but also in the 439 kyabakura industry. Popular kyabajōs are featured in various forms of the media like hosts are although not as extensively. fūzoku eigyō hō: Law for Night Businesses fūzokujō: Women working in fūzoku businesses fuyajō: The sleepless castle: Other name of Kabukichō G Genjina The pseudonym that is used when one works in the sex industry gyaru: See kogyaru gyaruo A male gyaru: According to Wikipedia (Retrieved on July 25th 2007), gyaruo is “a sub-group of the modern Japanese youth culture. They are the male equivalent of their female counterparts, the gyaru.” Watanabe (2005) defines gyaruo to be “high school students and freeters (part-time workers) who are between 15 to 20 years old, and who are possibly boyfriends of kogyaru. They hang out mainly in Shibuya.” H hakama: Pleated skirts: traditional costume for men hankagai: Literally it means a commercial district which contains various kinds of entertainment and attracts many visitors. It often connotes an adult entertainment district. This area generally exists in large cities throughout the nation. Some hankagai(s) are well known nationally. For example, Kabukichō, Ginza, Roppongi, and Ikebukuro in Tokyo, Yokohama and Sekiya in Kanagawa prefecture, Susukino in Sapporo, Minami in Osaka, Fukuoka city in Fukuoka prefecture, and Nagoya in Aichi prefecture are widely-known red-light districts in Japan. These places appeared in conversations with my informants during my fieldwork. hako (box): A size of a host club. Host clubs are often divided into two hako groups: ōbako (big box) and kobako (small box). Traditionally speaking, ōbako meant a host club containing a dance space with a live music band. But lately, the word ōbako refers to a host club with a large space measuring about 265-330 square meters and with 50 to 100 hosts. But ōbako is very rare in Kabukichō. The vast majority of the host clubs are commonly called kobako where they are about 99 to 165 square meters with 10-20 hosts. However, when the industry developed, there were over 250 host clubs in Kabukichō in early 2000s. 440 To further differentiate kobako, some hosts began to use the term chūbako to indicate a host club with about 165 square meter containing 20-30 hosts, slightly bigger scale than a kobako. Happy: A kōshūnyū zasshi, a categorical name of a want-ads magazine that specialize sex work or women looking for a job in the sex industry hitohana sakasetai : Wanting to make one’s name in the world hitohata ageru: Trying one’s luck *hosokyaku Literally a “thin client”: a client with low spending power *herupu Help: hosts with no visitors. They have to work as an assistant for the nominated host, sitting at his table, helping him to increase his sales from consumption of alcohol and keeping up the conversations, etc. I ichigen-san: A client who does not have any formal introduction to a club by a regular and/or who visits the place for the first time inaka: Countryside interi yakuza: Intelligent yakuza who engaged in businesses such as IT, finance, etc *irokoi eigyō: Love-affair business style defined as “serving clients with sweet words and attitudes, namely girlfriend-business strategy: making her believe that she is his girlfriend,” according to a popular host club website111. *irokano: A client maintained by using irokoi eigyō izakaya: Japanese style bar and restaurant J jibun sagashi boom: A social trend of “finding a self” K kachigumi: 111 A winner group (Onstage: http://www.on-sta.com/dictionary/host_dictionary_a.html. Retrieved on Aug 15th, 2006) 441 kakusa shakai: A gap society: See kibō kakusa shakai karōshi: Death from overwork katagi: Lexically, “honest,” “respectable,” “decent,” “serious,” “stable,” sober”: But it also means “a job that does not relate to any sex, yakuza and gambling businesses.” keieisha: A business owner: However, when my informants use this word, they interchangeably use it with shachō (a president). In both terms, they mean to own and run a company of their own. kibō kakusa shakai: The term was coined by a Japanese sociologist Yamada Masahiro (2004). It means “a society with a gap in having hopes.” kireime onii kei: Literally, “a beautiful big brother”: the catch-phrase that means a new trendy young male style kobako: See “hako” kogyaru: According to Wikipedia (Retrieved on July 25th 2007), kogyaru is a subculture of girls and young women in urban Japan, one of several types of so-called gyaru. They are characterized by conspicuously displaying their disposable income through distinctive tastes in fashion, music, and social activity.” Kogyaru was however not just a subculture. In fact, they were one of the most significant and sensational fashion and cultural trend setters in the 1990s. They are usually girls between 15 to 20 years old and favor in-fashion styles that highlight their body. Shibuya in Tokyo is their leisure area (Watanabe 2005). They are especially known to be materialistic, worship brandeditems and engaging in sexual activities for money (Gunji 1996). Sengoku (2001) describes kogyaku as being self-centered, reckless, and who not hold any communion with themselves. kyōkyū kurabu: Upper-end hostess clubs kōsaihi: Company entertainment expense for salarymen kōshūnyū zassi: A want-ad magazine listing “sex work” for women): It is usually a bi-weekly publication and lists a wide range of ‘sex work’ for women. The first one came out in early 1990s and there have always been about ten to fifteen such magazines existing in Japan ever since. * kōza: Literally “bank account”: female clients at host clubs 442 *kyacchi (catch): The practice of hosts touting and soliciting female clients kyabakura: A club which provides men with heterosexual female companionship. It is considered to be a mirror business of a host club. The concept of the kyabakura business is based on the two different forms of night entertainment outlets: cabaret and hostess club (kyaba: “cabaret” and kura: “hostess club”). It aims to create a luxurious atmosphere that a hostess club has while it provides a show and an hourly-based reasonably priced system that a cabaret has. The hourly price at the upper end kyabakura is over 8,000 yen per hour and at the lower end, it is about 4,000 yen. The nature of business is similar to that of a hostess club—providing alcohol and companionship to male clients. kyabakurajō or kyabajō: Women working in kyabakura. However, women working in a kyabakura who are called kyabajō are often younger than hostesses. The majority of them are in their late teens to their early twenties. Their hourly wage is usually between 1,500 and 4,000, or even higher. On top of an hourly wage, they get commission for being appointed by male clients and also by escorting their clients to a kyabakura when they come to work. If a kyabajō makes 3,000 yen per hour, which is said to be the average in the industry, she would be able to make about 50,000 yen per day (Kamiki, 2002). M makegumi: The losing group makura eigyō Literally, “pillow business”: to keep clients, hosts sleep with them: One of their business strategies. mama-san: A woman managing a hostess club or sunakku men’s kyabakura: A club that provides women with heterosexual male companionship. It is similar to a host club, but it does not have a permanent appointment system. The price setting at men’s kyabakura is more reasonable than at a host club. It is more casual. mikajime ryō: The protection fee which owners of businesses in the red-light districts pay yakuza mizushōbai: A night entertainment outlet which is based on providing companionship to clients while they drink, but with no sexual acts. N nekura: Gloomy, an indication of personality 443 *nibu eigyō: Nibu literally means “second” and eigyō means “business.” Nibu eigyō (the second-part business) in the sex industry refers to a business that only opens after the first business is closed around midnight. niito (NEET): Not in Education, Employment or Training O oniikei Literally a “brother-like”: One of the new male fashion trends emerging in the early 2000s, which targets young adults in their late teens to early twenties. It is sexy in a simplistic and elegant style. It is based on a jacket-based fashion with the chest open. Hairstyles and accessories, such as silver accessories, and shoes are important parts of the look. The basic silhouette is slim and tight while showing a fashionable belt. (Morimoto 2004: 155) ōbako: See hako P pachi-puro: A professional pachinko gambler who makes a living with this activity S shachō (a president): See “keieisha” shakai benkyō: To learn something about a society: This connotes learning something new that s/he would not be exposed to in his everyday life shakaijin : An adult worker who works in the formal sectors. Lexically, it means “a person who works in a real society.” In Japanese context, this “a real society” means, as Dasgupta (2003) discusses, a Japanese corporation. shayōzoku: Salarymen enjoying company expense accounts, visiting night entertainment establishments, playing golf, going to a trip, etc. *shimeigae: Changing an appointed host to another shinki gakusotsu shūshoku: “School-to-work” or “employment for new graduates” system * shizumeru (sink): The practice where hosts “introduce” their clients to sex work when they cannot pay their expenses at host clubs and/or when hosts ask their clients to such so that these women can spend more 444 money on them. *shokai kyaku: The first time visitor *shokai seido: The discount system for the first time visitor. shokunin boom: An artisan boom shūshoku katsudoo: Seeking career-track employment soap land: A form of brothel in Japan. The name originated from its setting—a woman serving a man in a bath setting. sunakku: A bar where women serve men alcohol and companionship. It is a casual version of a hostess club supper club or supper: A club where heterosexual men provide women with companionship. It is a casual and more reasonable version of a host club. Often it is interchangeably used with men’s kyabakura (or called men kyaba), men’s pub (or called “men pub”) and boy’s pub (or called “boy’s”). T taiiku kaikei: A hard-core, military-like structured school sports club which is based on the seniority system *tomodachi eigyō or tomoei Literally, “friend business”: One of the business strategies that hosts use. Instead of intimacizing their relationship, they stay as a friend with his clients *tomokano: Literally, a “friend-like girlfriend,” or a platonic girlfriend, maintained by tomoei. W waru: Bad or a bad boy Y yakushoku seido Hosts’ managerial positions: the very common order of the titles is daihyō (representative), senmu (executive director), jōmu (director), torishimariyaku (general manager), buchō (manager), and shunin (executive).” 445 [...]... within the MHI Their accounts showed complex connections between their motivations, the nature of the labour system employed by the MHI, and the larger structural changes This thesis then examines the 12 popularity of the job of hosts in relation to multi-level contexts: 1) the micro (motivations of men entering and working in the MHI), 2) the meso (the nature of the work and the labour system in the. .. What are the realities and paradoxes of working in the MHI? (Chapter 12) 10 What do their motivations and realities of working as hosts indicate employment conditions and career aspirations of the youth in Japan? What do the findings tell us about masculine landscapes of the modern Japanese society? (Chapter 13) Issues in the Representation of Hosts and their Work and Operational Terminologies a Japanese. .. Questions Through examining the growing popularity of hosts, this thesis examines changes in contemporary Japanese masculinities Because of difficulties in obtaining data from female clients, this thesis will focus on studying the MHI’s phenomenon primarily from the male workers’ perspectives not from the clients’ The objectives of this thesis are: 1 To document the historical development and ethnographical... (1987), the salaryman is what I refer to as Japanese hegemonic masculinity” in this thesis On the other hand, I define men entering and working in the MHI as “marginal men who intentionally or unintentionally deviate from the hegemonic masculine life course that is the salaryman’s When there was a crisis in the hegemonic masculinity and their work system, the work of hosts, which is totally different in. .. understanding of this profession, and the use of “sex worker” to describe hosts further compounds the problem Another problem of using “sex worker” lies in the Japanese understanding of the term Its usage in Japanese (ie sekkusu wākā) describes activists who advocate and fight for human rights for women working in the sex industry The term does not appear in 21 popular discourse and is not known among hosts. .. overall power increases 23 However, because the key informants in this thesis tend to be seniors who served in the MHI for a long time and who also have achieved a certain level of success as a host, the term “senior” here then indicates their seniority in terms of both their years of service in the MHI and their good job performance On the contrary, the term “junior” in this thesis indicates hosts who... ethnographical characteristics of the MHI 2 To examine the nature of their work, especially from the following three aspects: 1) the commodification of their services, 2) the MHI’s labour management system, and 3) the new organizational and media representation 18 of the hosts 3 To research the social backgrounds of men joining and working in the MHI 4 To investigate the entry motivations of this particular sex... business suit The majority of women patronizing host clubs in Tokyo are engaged in some form of sex work Most of them are young in their late teens to early twenties And some of these women, when they visit host clubs, come without changing their work clothing So I have seen women in long evening gowns in white, black and bright red colors, with their hair done-up like Cinderellas Others are often in smart-casual... recognition of the job of hosts It is then important to look into the social and organizational circumstances of these men working in the MHI Considering the academic trends discussed in this section, this thesis draws attention to young Japanese heterosexual male sex workers who work in the indoor sex industry called a host club A multi-perspective approach is applied to investigate the dynamics behind the rising. .. qualities of a “legitimate” male worker in the new age—from an examination of this emerging alternative masculinity represented by hosts It is my thesis that the magnification of the MHI the popularity of this career— was greatly impacted and triggered by the economic recession of the 1990s and the consequent deconstruction of the old and emergence of the new hegemonic masculinity of Japan With the Japanese . 2009 A PROMISED LAND FOR MEN: THE RISING POPULARITY OF HOSTS IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE SOCIETY REIKO YAMAGISHI (M.A. Women’s Studies, The University of Alabama) . between their motivations and the nature of the labour system employed by the MHI, woven together with the overall societal changes. The thesis thus examines the popularity of the job of hosts in. A PROMISED LAND FOR MEN: THE RISING POPULARITY OF HOSTS IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE SOCIETY REIKO YAMAGISHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE