Mizushoubai and Hostess times in "The PONN".....

Posted on August 7, 2007 by Mrblackmagic

Hostess and Host bars/clubs etc...

Really, what is more symbolic of Japan's world renowned strangeness than the MIZUSHOUBAI culture?

MIZUSHOUBAI as a term covers quite a few bases in that it is a blanket expression under which you will find your Hostess and Host clubs, ringky dink "snacks" and even the acclaimed and often glorified (nonsensically) GeishaTraditional female entertainers. Trained in such arts as singing, dancing, and playing Japanese traditional musical instruments. "houses" or clubs or whatever. Essentially it's any place that one can go and drink and the girls (or boys) that you are flirting with are paid to do just that, flirt with you.

In addition to flirting with you they are generally trying to get you and your party to buy more drinks both for yourselves and for THEM and to buy more expensive drinks as you become progressively more drunk! Sounds like a good time right?!?!

For any of you "GaijinJapanese word meaning "outsider" commonly used to describe foreigners. Considered somewhat impolite. " who have spent more than and hour in Tokyo you have probably heard of RoppongiAn area of Tokyo very famous for its high concentration of nightlife and popularity among the foreign population. or as my friend Dean likes to say "The PONN". It's basically the Gaijin meet open minded interested-in-Gaijin Japanese girl location. 5 years ago the filth of Roppongi had gotten pretty intolerable and recently efforts have been made in conjunction with commercial ventures such as Roppongi Hills and The Ritz to clean up this area....did anyone notice how Vanilla closed even though it was busy every night?? yep...they bought that.

Now...here is the interesting part...as the Gaijin dumps close, plans are being made and executed to open new Japanese clubs, predominantly HOSTESS clubs, in their place.

One such club that has been open in The PONN for sometime and is packed nightly is "GLOVE".

High end Hostess club, essentially Japanese only BUT accessible if you look decent (wearing a suit) and you can speak the language.

I and my compatriots did not look decent, but friends who know the people there made arrangements for us and in we went (the security guard at the door was about 4 feet tall and looked like he was going to have a heart attack when he saw me coming).

Huge club, lots and lots of pretty girls.

Don't get your hopes up....

We all spoke Japanese but the powers that be, that send girls to the tables continually sent girls that they thought had English ability ie. FILIPINO GIRLS....I was less than psyched...as were my partners....not that filipino women are bad (they are knock out attractive and cool to boot, but we were trying to go all Nippon) but I have to admit the filipino girls were by far better than the Japanese girls who claimed to speak English and looked....less than fantastic.

In the end...big bill....drunk but not nearly enough and largely disappointed.

I recommend normal bars. It's easy to talk to women that are buying drinks and very well might buy YOU drinks if the conversation goes well...Hostess clubs are worth a cursory visit just to get a load of this strange bit of culture, something that many Japanese men routinely enjoy.

Now....Chinese "snacks" in rural areas are a different story altogether....but that's a story for another time...