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Host and hostess clubs

A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan which employs primarily female staff and caters to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation. The modern host club is a similar type of establishment where primarily male staff attend to women. Host and hostess clubs are considered part of mizu shōbai (literally "water trade"), the night-time entertainment business in Japan.

Kyabakura Union[edit]

The Kyabakura Union (キャバクラユニオン, Kyabakura Yunion, lit. "Cabaret Club Union")[30] is a trade union for hostess club employees in Japan.[31] It was formed on December 22, 2009, by Rin Sakurai, who formed the union in response to problems hostess-club employees reported with their employers, including harassment and unpaid wages.[32] The union is affiliated with the Part-timer, Arbeiter, Freeter & Foreign Workers Union, often referred to as the "Freeter" Union.[33]

Literature and films[edit]

Fiction[edit]

There are many Japanese fictional works, such as TV dramas, novels, manga (and anime adaptations) which revolve around hostesses or host clubs. These works reaching a general audience shows how accepted the clubs have become in general society. This even extends to non-Japanese fiction, for example with the crime novel Tokyo (2000), by British author Mo Hayder, which has as its main character a British hostess starting out in the industry.[34] The episode "Meet Market" of the American TV drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation featured a version of a host club in Las Vegas. In Isaac Adamson's novel Dreaming Pachinko, the character Miyuki worked at an exclusive hostess club in Ginza.[35] A South Korean live-action film, Beastie Boys, is about two young men, Seung-woo and Jae-hyun, who serve as hosts or male escorts for a discreet private women's club in a posh district of Seoul.[36]

China[edit]

KTV/hostess bar in China[edit]

KTVs are a source of interactive musical entertainment through the utilization of a karaoke bar by which words appear on a large interactive television. It is important to distinguish the difference in desirable environments for individuals of different age groups within the KTV. Individuals within their early thirties to late forties typically prefer the exclusive, private realms of rented rooms rather than the stereotypical open dance floor disco environment. KTVs are usually found in East Asian nations and are a principal location for Chinese business meetings.[42]

Hostesses within the KTV[edit]

Chinese businessmen use various hostesses as a means of persuading the businessmen and as an outlet to earn favors in the future. This mentality is carried with many Chinese businessmen and has become the common perception on business for many of the Chinese men. These hostesses serve to please the client and allow the client to feel satisfied and trustworthy while present at the KTV.[43] Hostesses are expected to pressure businessmen to drink, sing and gain as much attention as possible.[44]


The Chinese businessmen that visit the KTV maintain a main and sentimental priority of establishing connections within their respective companies. Hostesses internally degrade their personal and "moral appearance" in order to satisfy a sentiment of masculine pleasure. These implications directly integrate into the creation of hegemonic masculinity for the business world. This correlates to the value of male dominance throughout the business world and enhances the principle of hyper-masculinity which decreases diversity for Chinese ethics. This also leads to gender inequality for women not only in the KTVs, but more generally throughout many realms of life in China.[45]


This may entail the loss of moral code and ethics for the women in the KTV. These bars and clubs proclaim that they are not a front for prostitution, yet it appears that these acts are the mere start of something much more serious, which may include aspects of prostitution as it is traditionally thought of in Western culture.[46] These values also relate to the foundations of Guanxi, by which there is created a hierarchical system of social order because men clearly possess more power in the KTV than do the hostesses. Hierarchy systems of power generally will lead to gender discrimination throughout the future and add to the already existing gap of gender implications in China. Guanxi also maintains the business order for the owners of the KTV by creating a workplace that is managed by a hierarchical power system where again hyper-masculinity is fully engaged in the men's favor.

Implications of mass alcohol consumption[edit]

KTVs are a typical location for Chinese business practices by which the businessmen attempt to formulate connections and loyalty amongst other various businessmen. The businessmen will try to establish a comfortable setting by providing fruit plates, women, or alcoholic drinks.[47] Chinese businessmen can be potentially seen consuming baijiu up to six or seven days per week solely to portray their loyalty to the businessmen principles and fulfill the pleasurable environment of the KTV. Mass alcohol consumption has negative effects on the bodies of the individuals that frequently visit KTVs. These consequences may include mental, physical, ethical, or even moral issues for the men.


Alcohol is a very prominent factor of KTVs and suitable with the overall culture of East Asian nations. Extreme consumption methods are usually used by the Chinese businessmen in exchange for personal health and moral conduct similar to the hostesses sacrificing their moral ethics to please the male consumer.[48]

Guanxi connection with the KTV[edit]

KTVs are used as a way to network within the business world through alcohol influenced cultivation of relationships with both "state officials and other entrepreneurs",[49] which positively affects their "business ventures" . This idea of networking is known as building "guanxi". "Entrepreneurs" pursue prestige in their realm of business and the idea of prestige is overwhelmingly influenced by the strength of one's network to a point where entertaining clientele becomes a second job. By entertaining a client, these businessmen are essentially building networks that are usually more developed and enhanced than building networks through actual relatable work. Guanxi is not based upon the actual credibility of the worker or the specific work he or she does, but is actually based on the fundamental of deriving connections. This world of guanxi is based upon social networking with other businessmen rather than having a more efficient and diligent work ethic. Guanxi is an extremely powerful sentiment when it comes to connections and ranking up in a company or simply establishing yourself in the business world.[50]

Bargirl

List of public house topics

Prostitution in Japan

Maid cafe

Long-term effects of alcohol consumption

Karaoke box

Human sexuality

The Great Happiness Space: Documentary of Host Bar

at IMDb

History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess

Salon.com

Diary of a Tokyo hostess

The Standard, 22 April 2006

My month as a poor man's geisha

YouTube video.

Ken Tanaka interviews hosts and hostesses in Tokyo's Kabukichoo red light district