The Shortest Host Club Introduction Possibly Ever Written

If I had to estimate how many host clubs I've been to in the past 5 months, I'd say around....25, perhaps? All of these except one were located in Kabukichou, Tokyo's infamous Red Light District.

Bottom left corner. Its Blue Steel from Zoolander!

Here's a super quick introduction to hosts clubs:

Step 1: You wander Kabukichou, get creeped on by various old men and Nigerians, and then eventually a host might come up to you and offer a flyer for his club. Host clubs are usually 500 to 1000 yen for one or two hours your first visit. This first visit is called shoukai.

Step 2: You find the club. Normally, for legal reasons, the boys may not walk you there, and thus you get the joy of wandering back alleys by yourself. In my case, I did this with a friend or two. Safety in numbers, ladies. Upon finding the place, you show your ID at the front. You must be at least 20 to enter these clubs, and they are very strict about that. The boys, however, are not kept to the same standard. The youngest I've seen is 18, but I swear there've been 16-year-olds. Hard to tell with these pretty Japanese boys, sometimes.

Step 3: You sit, get a warm towel to wipe your hands on, and someone asks what you want to drink for the night. You get all you can drink (I always go with a milk tea and shochu combo). The hosts rotate throughout your time, handing you business cards with their name (a fake) and a cool design, or, if they are higher level hosts, their picture on it. There's flirting, drinking games, and amazement at the fact that you are foreign, speaking Japanese, and actually in a host club. Many of the clubs I've been to have never had a foreigner there before, in fact.

Step 4: At the end, you get to choose whichever guy you liked best to walk you out and exchange numbers/mail with so he can entice you to come back and shimmei him. This is far more expensive, as you are actually paying for this guy's time so he can come and sit with you. However, you will not be able to go back to the same club again without paying a higher price. This is why I've been so many.

So there's the quick and dirty version of a first-time visit to a host club.

I try to keep the meishi (business cards) each host gives from each club. Once I find them, my goal is to write an entry on them.

<3 W. Anon