Tokyo boys put a twist on an old institution

Tokyo is, for many people, a city that sparks images of flashing neon, super cool gadgets and bizarre fashions.

Aside from these clichés, Japan has always been known for its hostess bars; places where businessmen take their clients to be attentively waited upon by a variety of women. These women are not prostitutes, but are there to pour drinks and light cigarettes and to make conversation.

This premise may seem slightly bizarre to Western sensibilities but in the land of the rising sun it’s quite accepted. Some Western women aren’t afraid to take advantage of the of the lucrative remuneration coming form this trade either, and many establishments specialize in their foreigner staff.

In contemporary Tokyo it’s becoming more common not only to see Hostess bars advertised around certain seedier districts, but also Host bars- where women can take advantage of a similar experience.

Club Prince is such a place and 21-year-old host Ageha says “Providing a dreamlike environment…is something special,” confirming that this is more about escapism than sex.

House rules dictate that a host must not ask a woman about her occupation, as they are most certainly there to take a night off from daily pressures.

In Kabuki-cho, a neighbourhood just West of the skyscrapers and the city government offices, you’ll find a concentration of these bars, but these services don’t come cheap, and most of us are left to our armchair anthropology and to scratch our heads at such idiosyncratic practices.