What about “Tarigami” and “Kaonashi”? What is the meaning of “Kabukicho cryptograms” in “How Do You Live?

The first new feature film in 10 years by director Hayao Miyazaki (82), “How Do You Live?” has grossed over 6.2 billion yen in its first month of release. The film was made without advertising, and its content was kept completely secret. The film was a huge success, opening to the public only with the sign “Produced by Studio Ghibli. There are many hosts in Kabukicho who have benefited from the name value of “Studio Ghibli.

In “Spirited Away,” there are nearly 100 hosts with the name “Haku,” the boy who supports the main character Spirited Away. There is also “Howl,” taken from the wizard in “Howl’s Moving Castle. There are many who take their names from “Shonen Jump” works, but the popularity of Ghibli characters is overwhelming.

Kohaku (pseudonym, 23) is one of the hosts who took his name from “Haku.

I grew up in a normal family, but there are all kinds of customers in Kabukicho. Even when talking about Christmas, there are people who say, ‘I never celebrated Christmas at home,’ or ‘I’ve never been to a movie theater,’ etc. There are many different backgrounds. There are situations where it is difficult to find common interests.

But if it’s Ghibli, everyone watches it. I tell a client I just met, “The name ‘Kohaku’ is taken from ‘Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi,’ the official name of Haku in ‘Spirited Away,'” and then I use Ghibli material to expand the conversation.

The “Studio Ghibli” brand is now a common language in Kabukicho. Recently, the names of characters from Ghibli films are being used as a secret language among prostitutes.

A customer who is very persistent is called “Tatarigami,” and one who gives things given to him to other women is called “Ashitaka. Another cloak for a shitty customer is “kaonashi.

They can’t speak well, so they try to get your attention with money. When they are rejected, they go crazy and say, “You bitch! When they are rejected, they go crazy. When I say, “There’s this fucking Kaonashi type customer,” the girls at night usually get the message.

The bathhouses in “Spirited Away” have many characteristics similar to those of soaplands. The character of “Spirited Away” has many characteristics similar to those of a soapland: she works in a bathhouse in another world, her name is taken away from her, and she takes care of the gods in a private room instead of in a large bathhouse. Therefore, when the character “Kaonashi” is referred to as “a shitty customer in the sex industry,” it makes a strange kind of sense.

When he was picking up a host named Haku, he would say to him in a flirtatious manner, “Be my Chihiro! ‘ I was in a flirtatious mood. After that, I realized that I had become a soap opera star for him, so I really thought I was Chihiro (laughs).”

Rinka (pseudonym, 24) says that she fell in love with “Spirited Away” even more after working at a soapland.

There is a song called ‘Aburaya,’ which is a version with lyrics of the scene where Chihiro is working, and it really sounds like a song about a sex worker who goes on a devil’s errand. I thought I went to bed a while ago, but I’m already at work. Just when you think it’s over, it’s just beginning. My body is heavy, my mind is even heavier.

I thought it was a lyric about working 18 hours a day at ……. The lyrics, “You’re only beautiful when you’re young” and “You’re only beautiful when you’re young,” especially stuck with me. I thought, “Sex work is not a job that you can keep doing as you get older and still make money, and the time when you have customers and are making money is the time when you are beautiful.

The people of Kabukicho are making the most of their young looks and leading ephemeral lives. How do these night workers live beside TOHO CINEMAS SHINJUKU where the latest Ghibli movie is being screened?

JASRAC №2306217-301

Sasaki Chihuahua
Born in Tokyo in ’00. After attending an integrated school in Tokyo from elementary school to high school, he went on to Keio University. 15 years old, he has been going to Kabukicho and has a wide range of personal connections. At university, he is studying the sociology of the downtown area, including Kabukicho. His book, ” Pien” to shakai” (“The Disease of ‘Pien’: Consumption and Approval of the SNS Generation”), is now on sale.

From the September 1, 2023 issue of FRIDAY