Sasaki Chihuahua goes inside the collaboration event between Rafael and the “Face to Face Hosts” who became “Hosts for a Day”!

As previously mentioned in this series, the number of “one-day hosts” by celebrities and YouTubers is increasing. On December 9, popular YouTube star Rafael, who boasts 1.81 million registered users, appeared in Kabukicho. He collaborated with Shibuya Phoenix, who is famous as “Japan’s best host who does not show his face,” at the restaurant where he works.

Rafael had declared, “I will serve customers in a mask and suit. Will he drink champagne with his mask off or suck it through a straw? …… I was curious, so I visited the restaurant on the day of the event, and what I saw there was an “unusual” space that was different from that of a regular host club.

Usually, visitors to host clubs tend to go alone or in groups, and group customers are rarely seen. However, since Rafael was serving as “host for a day,” there were many men and women mingling in the seats. On the tables, several bottles of original “Raphael Champagne,” prepared for the occasion, were downed, creating a bubbly atmosphere.

While there were only less than 30 cast members at the store, the number of group customers who came for Rafael increased one after another, to more than 20 people. In addition, the regulars who usually come to the store had also visited, so the store was a little confused by the sheer volume of business.

After a while, the author raised his hand …… to go to the restroom. In host clubs, there is an unspoken rule that customers are not allowed to go to the restroom without permission. On the way to the restroom, they may go to check on a guest who is covered by their designated host, or they may pretend to go to the restroom and cause inconvenience to other guests. So, if there is no cast member at your seat, you have to raise your hand to call for your food order. I finally called a Cast Member and told her that I needed to use the restroom, but the restroom was extremely crowded due to the popularity of the restaurant.

The cast member directed me to the restroom on the lower floor of the host club and said, “Let’s go use the restroom downstairs.

He was guided by a cast member to use the restroom at another host club, his first experience in his seven years in Kabukicho.

After that, Rafael’s designated customers continued to come to the club one after another. When he ran out of red wine, he even borrowed alcohol from the same host club where he had used the restroom. This culture of lending each other alcohol has existed in Kabukicho for a long time, and I felt as if I had seen solidarity beyond the group.

Rafael’s event was a great success, ending with more than 30 nominated customers and sales of more than 10 million yen.

On the other hand, from the store side, the event seemed to have presented some challenges. Shibuya, with whom we collaborated, reflected on the event as follows: “It was a one-day collaboration event.

We realized that it is difficult to have a group competition that takes advantage of the host club’s help capabilities, etc. “In a one-day collaboration event, the relationship between the collaboration partner and the employees is limited. As hosts, we would like to polish our customer service skills on a daily basis so that we can be better prepared for such events. We hope that people who get to know our host club through these events will want to come back again.”

In mid-October this year, Issei Ishida hosted for a day and sang his last song with his father, Junichi Ishida. These “one-day host” events by celebrities will probably continue in the future, but what kind of customer service will they be able to provide? Perhaps host clubs are being tested to see what kind of service they can provide.

Sasaki Chihuahua
Born in Tokyo in 2000. After attending an integrated school in Tokyo from elementary school to high school, he went on to Keio University, where he has been living in Kabukicho since he was 15 years old 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 30 issue of “FRIDAY