Why People Say Cabaret Clubs Are Boring: Empty Conversations and Influencer Aspirations

“Cabarets are so boring these days.”

Inbound demand remains strong. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the number of foreign visitors to Japan in October reached about 3.9 million, a 17.6% increase compared with the same month last year. This marked a new record high for October. As the number of foreign tourists grows, cities are bustling—but the same cannot necessarily be said for nightlife establishments.

According to Tokyo Shoko Research, there were 58 bankruptcies among bars, cabarets, and nightclubs from January to August 2025, remaining at a persistently high level. This is attributed to factors such as the contraction of dining-out and entertainment demand due to COVID-19, inflation, rising prices, and labor shortages. However, there are other reasons as well. Among men who frequently visit cabarets, one often hears the comment, “Cabarets have become boring lately.”

Various explanations have been offered for changes in men’s attitudes toward visiting cabarets and girls’ bars, including a decline in alcohol consumption and reduced demand for business entertainment. In particular, a common opinion among men in their 20s and 30s is that it’s a waste of money to just throw cash around, but that is not the only factor.

Mr. A, a man in his 30s, says, “It’s been a few years since the COVID turmoil ended. I’ve gotten older too, but the girls working at the clubs are still young.” He explains that starting to feel the age gap is why he can no longer enjoy it as he once did.

“Around 2018, I was in my late 20s, had relatively disposable income, and spent weekends hanging out at girls’ bars and cabarets with friends. But after COVID, I stopped going. Recently, I went to a cabaret for the first time in a long while, and for some reason, the conversation just didn’t click. Maybe it’s because we’ve gotten older and there’s now a generation gap with girls who are barely in their 20s.

The girls start with set phrases like, ‘What did you eat today?’ or ‘What kind of work do you do?’ followed by things like, ‘What do you do on your days off?’ When they run out of topics, they start talking about themselves—‘This is what’s trending on TikTok,’ or ‘I recently met someone famous on Instagram.’ But I’m just being made to listen one-sidedly to things I don’t know about, and it’s not interesting at all. Even if I try to bring up a topic, I have no idea what to talk about with a girl who’s more than 10 years younger than me,” says Mr. A.

More and more cast members are disappointing when you meet them in real life

Traditionally, cabaret clubs have always featured young women, and an age gap of around 10 years has never been unusual. Even so, they were places where enjoyable conversation was supposed to happen. It may be that Mr. A, who is still relatively young, was overly shocked by suddenly feeling a generational gap, but a girl who does nothing but talk about herself one-sidedly is also questionable.

In addition, members of Generation Z who currently work as cast members tend to have highly fragmented interests, so it is true that even when you listen, much of it can be hard to follow. It is understandable that, even if the male customer tries to draw out conversation, it can be difficult to figure out what kind of topics the other person is actually able to talk about.

Mr. B, in his 40s, also laments—like Mr. A—that conversations with the girls no longer seem to mesh, saying, “Now that I’ve gotten older, I finally understand what older men used to say.” But he adds that there are other things that bother him as well.

“All the girls look the same to me. Compared with 10 years ago, cabaret clubs now have far more beautiful and cute women. But how should I put it—almost everyone has the same face, and it feels like they’ve all had cosmetic surgery… With advances in cosmetic procedures, if you spend the money, you can achieve an ‘ideal’ look. I’m happy to drink with pretty girls, but they all look the same, and the conversations aren’t very interesting either.” (Mr. B)

Those are the opinions from the men’s side, but it seems the mindset of the women working there has also changed. We spoke with Mr. C, an employee at a cabaret club in Shinjuku.

At Mr. C’s club, a remote ordering system has been introduced alongside regular in-person operations. Using livestreaming apps and similar platforms, female cast members broadcast video in real time, and viewers can order drinks and other items for them without ever coming to the club. In some cases, viewers simply place drink orders for the cast. This system spread rapidly among nightlife establishments during the COVID pandemic, and it is now widely adopted as a new business model at cabaret clubs and hostess clubs.

“Some cast members get fawned over by big-spending customers through remote orders and start mistakenly believing, ‘I’m popular’ or ‘I’m a high-earning hostess.’ As a result, more and more of them begin to slack off when it comes to face-to-face customer service. Livestreaming works because they can just talk about themselves while picking up comments from viewers, but when it comes to in-person service, their lack of conversation skills is exposed. This creates a vicious cycle—they put even more effort into online streaming, and the result is a hostess who isn’t interesting at all when you actually meet her in person,” says Mr. C.

It’s not just a yearning for the glamorous world

Mr. C also conducts interviews for new cast members. The profile of people seeking nightlife work has changed, and recently, many university and vocational school students come to work simply because the pay is high.

“In the past two or three years, this trend has increased further. Among them are people who want to become famous on social media and are inspired by influencers like Hibiki Ichijo or Karen Tenshi. That’s fine, of course, but the key point is that these influencers became famous by entertaining their customers. Those who join just because they admire them don’t know the effort behind a successful cast member, so they aren’t enthusiastic about providing good service or generating sales. As a result, male customers don’t become regulars,” he explains.

On social media, it’s common to see popular hostess influencers posting about receiving numerous reservations. Even mid-tier hostesses who aren’t top earners can selectively showcase only the good parts of their work online. Many women are drawn to this glamorous, curated image of the workplace.

However, because their motivation is to become an influencer or gain followers online, they lose sight of the core purpose of working in a cabaret: entertaining the customers right in front of them.

From the perspective of male customers, they are paying a high price to enjoy themselves, so having women who are skilled conversationalists is crucial. If the appearance of the cast is already enhanced by cosmetic procedures or other techniques, then the quality of customer service becomes even more important.

On the other hand, the women often prioritize gaining attention on social media, going viral, or becoming influencers. This growing disconnect between the customers’ desire for engaging, skilled service and the cast’s focus on online popularity seems to be a major reason why cabarets are increasingly considered boring.

“FRIDAY Digital” welcomes your information and tip-offs. Please send your information to the following information form or to the official X.

Information form: https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/tips
Official X: https://x.com/FRIDAY_twit