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Someone to talk to about host club culture?
But as in how the insustry has grown so large. The nβ¦ I'm very fascinated by the host club culture. Not as in 'I want to go there'. Been there done that. As a gaijin its a solid 3/10 experience. πββοΈ
But as in how the insustry has grown so large. The number of clubs in Kabukicho have more or less doubled over the past 5 years and I wonder why that would be.
Putting prejudices aside, I'd love to have some discussions on why women would be interested of becoming regulars and spending a fortune there.
Because sure, some of the host club culture could be written off on young guillable girls who do fall for the host's charms and go out of some twisted sense of love. Some could be explained by loneliness, sure.
However the sheer number of Kabukicho host clubs has me belive that there is something else that is at play here.
I'm not sure if this is the right sub to ask this question in, but its very difficult to find relevant info online and even more difficult to find people who would like to talk about it without putting the customers or hosts down.
Thanks in advance π«Ά
the social media angle is real but i think theres also a structural thing people miss. a lot of these clubs are basically rebranded versions of the old "date clubs" from the 2000s, just with a younger face and an instagram filter. the whole industry pivoted hard after the escort crackdowns in kabukicho around 2018, so hosts became the legal workaround for basically the same service model
fwiw i know a girl who used to go to club ares in kabuchiko semi-regularly. she said it was less about the host and more about the other regulars. there's this weird social hierarchy where spending more gets you recognition from the staff and other women. its like a status game where the currency is cash and the prize is being treated like a VIP in front of everyone
also theres a practical reason for the growth. the overhead for a host club is basically rent and booze, and the margins are insane. a bottle of cheap whiskey they sell for like 50,000 yen costs them maybe 2,000. so even if half the clubs fail within a year, the ones that stick make enough to cover the losses easily
honestly it's less about love or loneliness and more about the transaction being the point. a lot of regulars i've talked to in Shinjuku say the appeal is having a space where they can be the one in control of the dynamic, even if it's performative. the host is there to mirror whatever they want to hear or feel, which is a kind of power you don't get in most relationships here
the industry blew up partly because of social media too. a lot of these clubs run tiktok and instagram accounts now, pushing this glamorized version of the lifestyle. it makes the whole thing feel like a game or a status thing among regulars, not just a night out. plus the yakuza connection is way less direct than people assume, so there's less overhead to just open another club and see if it sticks
one thing nobody talks about is how the pricing model is built around debt. you're not paying for one night, you're paying for the illusion of exclusivity and the slow drip of attention. that's a hard cycle to break once you're in it
theres also a pretty big bubble element to it honestly. a lot of the newer clubs are owned by ex-hosts who got successful during the pandemic boom and just reinvested everything into opening their own places. so now you have this chain reaction where every host whos got some savings thinks they can run a club, and the whole thing feeds on itself until it cant anymore. seen it happen with other nightlife stuff in tokyo before
Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.
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