JIN-458 -- What do you know about hostessing? Part Three

J@pan Inc Newsletter
The 'JIN' Japan Inc Newsletter
A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends
in Japan.
Issue No. 458 Wednesday March 26, 2008, Tokyo

What do you know about hostessing? Part three

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This week's JIN comes from a young woman who worked in the
hostess trade in Japan. It chronicles some of her experiences
and wider observations about the industry. To read part one
please visit: www.japaninc.com/jin429 and to read part two go
to: www.japaninc.com/jin252

In response to our reader 'C.J.' I decided to continue this
series by focusing on what happens outside of the hostess club.
C.J asked me to elaborate on the practice know as 'dohan.'

Most hostess club and some snack bars require their hostesses,
per month, to spend time with the customers before or after
work. The only required extra time is called 'dohan.' In the
hostess business 'dohan,'which literally means 'to accompany'
or 'going with,' is a paid for date. The customer or the hostess
will arrange to meet a few hours before work starts, have dinner
and then the customers will accompany the hostesses to the club.
The hostess clubs charge a flat rate for the customers to take
the hostesses out which varies from club to club. The customers
of course pay for the dinner and other activities like any other
date. High-end clubs will require the hostesses to go on
anywhere from 3 to 5 dohans per month; if they do not meet this
requirement then they will be docked pay. There are also
'afters' which is when after the club closes (usually between 12
and 2 am), the customer takes the hostess(es) out for more
drinking and usually eating. The most popular places to go are
dart bars, karaoke bars, and other snack bars that are open in
the morning for the purpose of the 'afters.'It is also very
common for hostesses to participate in other activities besides
dinner dates, and more drinking. One of the most popular
activities is golfing, which many hostesses pick up because most
of the customers play golf. The golfing outings can be like a
dohan, where after the 'date' the hostess brings the client to
the club, or they sometimes happen on weekends. To re-iterate,
the difference between a dohan and a date is that a hostess will
bring the client to the club and then the club will charge the
client for the hostesses' time.

As C.J. mentioned (http://www.japaninc.com/jin429#comment-762),
dohans and afters are essential for a hostess to maintain her
customers. By spending time outside of the club with clients
hostesses can build a more personal relationship which
facilitate entertainment in the club setting later. Dohan are
also essential if the hostess is to build enough client decent
relationships to sustain a good income, or money from tips or
gifts to be able to set up independently. However, this is where
the lines between hostessing and prostitution begin to blur.
Most will not have intercourse with a customer for pay, however
others feel that they should in order to maintain a good
relationship with their customers. Others get taken advantage
of. I can not say definitely whether or not any of the hostesses
that I know ever had sex for money. But in any other work
environment, this would not necessarily be an issue of
prostitution. For instance, you work in office and your client
happens to be attractive, so you ask her out on a date. You pay
for the meal, the taxi, the movie, and the after dinner drinks
at the darts bar and then you take her 'back to your place.'
This is a common scenario. Would that be considered
prostitution?

It is important for a hostess to have one or several big
customers if they are to be successful. These men can make or
break a hostess, they provide financial support through gifts,
and if they spend enough in the club, they can make their
hostess number one. The 'number one' receives an extra cash
bonus at the end of the month, and if the number one continues
to bring in money they also receive priority in other aspects of
work, such as getting put on the track to be a chi-mama
(vice-mamasan/manager). This aspect of the work is where dohans
become very important, because not only does the hostess get to
spend more time with her client but she also earns more money
for the club via the dohan charge/fee.

Both establishments where I worked did not require me to attend
dohans. The foreign club where I worked did not require it of
any of the hostesses, and the high-end Japanese club did not
require me to because they did not think I could. I did however
go on dohans, afters and dates with customers. Many months I
was at the bottom of the payroll and in ranking at the hostess
club because I was not required to go on dohans so I never
arranged them. However one month I actually did go on a few
dohans with an older hostess, her customer and his son, so I
was not at the bottom. The way we would know who made the most
for the club was through the payout system. We would have our
monthly meetings and envelops filled with our pay would be
giving out in order of number one, number two and on down the
line. The number one would also receive her extra bonus at this
time.

By 'June'

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