High School Students Dream of Cabaret Girls and Host Roles, Social Media Speeding Up Trend Towards Younger Debut Ages in Nightlife Industry

The mizu-shobai are inseparable from Kabukicho in Shinjuku. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the state of the mizu-shobai, such as the problem of corrupt hosts, but there are many other problems as well.

One is the declining age of the Kabukicho crowd. The age range of people who play in the nightlife district has been declining, but the age of those who work there has also declined, and the average age of those who work in the host and cabaret clubs has dropped significantly.

We decided to talk to the people involved about the reasons why they came to work in Kabukicho, where the population is getting younger.

Ms. K (a pseudonym), a 20-year-old former con-cafe worker and current cabaret worker, explains her reasons.

I had originally decided to stop working at concafés and go to cabarets when I turned 20. At con cafes, 20-year-olds are not so young, and 18-year-olds are common. I work at a flower shop during the day, but I think some of them are high school students. My take-home pay from my day job is 140,000 yen, which is not enough to make a living, so I started working at nightclubs as a part-time job.

The first reason for working in mizu-shobai is money. There are not many jobs that pay as much as mizu-shobai for people in their position. If they choose a regular part-time job but work a few hours at the end of their day job, a high hourly wage job like cabaret is more efficient. And she chose to work as a cabaret girl, which pays 4,500 yen per hour.

We also interviewed other cabaret girls about these non-monetary reasons.

Ms. N, 20 years old, is a current college student. She works at a cabaret club as a part-time job.She also chose to work at a cabaret club because of the high hourly wage, but she also has other reasons.

I want to do something I can only do now, she says. When I get older, I won’t be able to work in a cabaret club, and when I see people having fun working in cute dresses on TikTok and Instagram stories, I get excited, I often hear high school students say that they’re dying to be a cabaret girl.

She said that if she was going to work, she had to be able to wear cute outfits, and we heard similar opinions from other cabaret girls.

If you work part-time, you are often required to wear a certain hair color, clothes, etc. But if you work in a water business such as a cabaret club, you can do whatever you want. Pretty dresses, hair color of your choice, flashy nails, all can be done freely, which is why more and more young people are coming to work in these places.

What about hosts? The host industry is facing a variety of problems, but what made you decide to work as a host?

We interviewed Mr. H, a 20-year-old college student.

I’m working while going to a fashion school.Other part-time jobs don’t allow you to work based on your clothes or hairstyle.Host clubs allow you to work with whatever hairstyle you like.The money is pretty tight, and I’m often asked by other hosts to do dark part-time jobs. I’ve been approached before, but I don’t want to commit a crime, and considering my dreams for the future, being a host was the perfect fit.

He is one of those who chose to work in a host club because of the freedom of dress and other aspects. While it is true that unsuccessful hosts have no money, there is a reason why he still chooses to work here.

It is whether or not they can be fashionable.

You can come to work wearing the accessories you like and ask your customers what they think about them on the spot. It is probably only at host clubs that you can hear honest opinions. It is a place where you can learn about your own fashion while working, where you can ask for opinions right away.

In other jobs, no one is so sensitive about fashion. People talk about new brands of clothes, but only a few people know about them. But the customers who come here pay attention. That makes me happy.

When a new item from a brand I like comes out, I want to share it with someone. It is easy to understand if you think of it as wanting to talk about your hobbies with someone.

Then I saw a host on a social networking site.

They decided to become hosts after seeing videos of them with flashy hair, flashy clothes, and brand-name items.

One thing that all of the people we interviewed had in common was that social networking was a big part of their lives. Social networking seemed to make the water business like a glittering profession in the eyes of young people, and it was apparent that they were thinking about how to make the best use of their time and taking action.

The glittering world is often a frightening place to be. We can only hope that the young people who step into it do not get into trouble.