Hosts, cabaret girls, prostitutes, and drinkers are all busy…! Why “Kabukicho in December” is the hottest spot of the year!

The most exciting time of the year for host clubs is December, when the annual sales are decided. Hosts take advantage of this time to start dating their customers and encourage them to pay high prices with plans for Christmas and New Year’s. “The first night in December is the best time to start dating,” said one host.

The first night of December is the hottest. The girls with money come here.

Says Ryo (pseudonym), a successful host for eight years.

If you are nice to girls who have saved up, you can increase your sales by several million yen. It’s also the peak season for the sex industry, which has a lot of girls as customers.

Yes, December is a busy season not only for hosts but also for the adult entertainment industry. Kazuha (pseudonym), who has been in the adult entertainment business for five years, says that it has become a tradition for him to spend the year-end and New Year’s holidays at a brothel every year.

For the past three years, I’ve been spending the New Year’s holidays at a brothel (laughs). During the year-end and New Year’s vacations, there are many people who are on vacation but have nothing to do, as well as businessmen who have just returned from a night of drinking and are in a bad mood. Also, I’m going to lose my virginity before the end of the year!　or “I’m going to have my first sex before the end of the year!　There are also a lot of young customers who are looking to “finish their virginity before the end of the year!

Kazuha says that during the year-end and New Year’s holidays, he has customers almost constantly, and he goes to work in the countryside, earning 100,000-200,000 yen a day before returning to Tokyo.

He returns to Tokyo earning 100,000 to 200,000 yen a day. When I enter a love hotel, I turn on the TV and we talk about comedy shows, and I can shorten my playing time by saying, ‘I’m going to take a shower after I watch this! I can shorten my playing time by doing things like that. If the customer is nice to me, he sometimes says, “Let’s watch this show together and I’ll extend the show. Once you learn how much money you can make and how easy it is during the year-end and New Year’s holidays, you don’t want to work during other times of the year (laughs).

Cabaret clubs and lounges are also busy during the New Year’s holiday. However, Mika (pseudonym), who works at a cabaret club in Kabukicho, is a bit dissatisfied with the year-end situation.

During the busy season, they hire a lot of girls even if they don’t have good looks or customer service skills. They want to hire more people, so they pay more and more per hour. Even girls who wouldn’t be hired during normal times of the year are hired without hesitation. This leads to an increase in unprofessional girls and a decline in the quality of the store.

In addition to hosts, sex clubs, and cabarets, the month of December is also a good time to make money for the “pay to drink” industry, which has been attracting a lot of attention recently. This is a system in which a person uses an app to call women to any location and have a drink with them. You can invite multiple women to a drinking party, or you can enjoy shopping and dining one-on-one.

Aya (a pseudonym), who has been a Gala drinker for five years, says, “Gala drinking is also available in December.

December is the most exciting month for galas!　After all, it is the drinking season. You can go out late at night or in the morning, or have a drink in the afternoon, and it’s a great way to liven up a home party. The drinking service I am registered with has a “gift” system that is separate from the hourly rate. This system also determines the annual sales ranking, so the girls get into it pretty hard with each other. There are not a few cases where girls who are frustrated because of low sales offer sexual services for the “gift,” even though they know it’s against the rules.

December is the busy season for those in the hospitality industry, when salarymen who have worked hard all year stretch their wings. Since the COVID-19 crisis has made people refrain from holding year-end parties, it is likely that Kabukicho will be quite lively this year.

Sasaki Chihuahua
Born in Tokyo in 2000. After attending an integrated school in Tokyo from elementary school through high school, he went on to Keio University, where he has lived in Kabukicho since the age of 15 and has a wide range of personal connections. At the university, he is studying the sociology of downtown areas including Kabukicho. Kabukicho Moratorium” (KADOKAWA) is now on sale.

From the December 23, 2022 issue of FRIDAY