Why Japan is clamping down on host clubs

Host clubs, where young male staff "pamper and flatter" female guests, are "booming" in Japan.

Some 21,000 male hosts work at 900 of these lucrative establishments but opaque prices for drinks and a "slippery debt system" have attracted the attention of the authorities, said Unseen Japan, and one business has already been closed. 

What are host clubs?

Host clubs are the alternative version of hostess clubs, where female staff offer drinks and flirtatious attention to male customers. The first host club opened in the 1960s, mostly serving as a dance hall for "rich matrons and widows", and although the clubs were initially seen as a "fringe, sleazy business", that "stigma has faded".

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At host clubs, attractive men known as hosts entertain female patrons, engaging them in "flirtatious conversations" over drinks and food at "sky-high" prices, said Japan Times. 

The men often wear make-up like k-pop stars and refer to guests as "hime" (princess) and offer them a "break from reality", said The Economist. Sex is "not part of the bargain" and though it could happen somewhere else, clients are usually seeking "psychological rather than physical intimacy".

Successful hosts are now "celebrities" and appear on TV shows and billboards, becoming "an archetype within Japanese popular culture", said Thomas Baudinette, an anthropologist at Macquarie University. 

Their popularity is partly explained by the fact that more than 60% of Japanese women in their late 20s are unmarried - double the rate in the mid-1980s and more than a third of unmarried adults aged 20-49 have never dated. 

Another factor is an apparent link between the "cult of the host" and the "obsessive fan culture" in Japan. Some women are switching their passionate allegiance from boy bands to hosts.

Host clubs have been accused of "exploitation", with venues overcharging for drinks and "manipulating clients into racking up huge tabs". One club charges 6,000 yen (around £30) for a bottle of Perrier sparkling mineral water, which usually costs less than 500 yen (£2.50) at supermarkets and online stores.

One client told The Economist that her favourite host would ignore her and fiddle with his phone when she refused to order champagne. "I would spend more money because I didn't want him to dislike me", she said. "I wanted his attention." 

Some women go to "extraordinary lengths to feed their host habit", and a study found that among women arrested for selling sex at a popular pickup spot, over 40% were trying to earn enough cash to go to host clubs. 

What is being done?

On 20 May, the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission closed the doors to LOVE, a host club in Kabukicho. The host was arrested and accused of facilitating the prostitution of his female customer after driving her into a debt of 10 million yen (around £58, 980) using the sale-on-credit system.

The system, called "urikakekin", sees a host offer to shoulder customers’ vast fees for drinks and services sold on credit. The tab "adds up", said Unseen Japan, forcing some customers into prostitution to pay up their debts.

Although the payment system isn't illegal under current law, a "national outcry over abuses" has led politicians to propose additional restrictions on the businesses, with the industry "scrambling to promise it'll self-regulate", said Unseen Japan. 

Meanwhile, said Baudinette, host clubs are another symbol of the fact that, for many Japanese people, "intimacy can only be accessed through commoditised forms".