Current Keio University students sneak into the host club’s most important event, the New Year’s party!

Even though Tokyo is in the midst of a “man-proof” period, Kabukicho’s host clubs are still in business today. Each of the major host clubs employs about 80 people. Including customers, there are well over 100 people lined up in the clubs, serving drinks every night.

In mid-February, a banquet hall at a high-class hotel in Tokyo was reserved for a big event. It was the New Year’s party of a major host group.

The party started at 3 pm. The hosts, who are usually night owls, entered the venue in droves, rubbing their sleepy eyes. As this was a New Year’s party for one of the top major groups in the industry, there were approximately 400 hosts in attendance. After a flashy opening movie was played at high volume, the New Year’s party started with a toast by the owner, who must have once walked around Kabukicho with the wind at his shoulders.

The main event of the New Year’s party was the awarding of prizes to the hosts who had made a large amount of sales last year. When the host’s name was called out and he walked briskly up the aisle to the podium, the tables, which were divided by store, cheered loudly. After expressing their joy in front of the microphone, the honored hosts were hoisted up one by one by their peers, who were holding up flags with their faces and sales inscribed on them.

One host who made it to the podium was

The hosts have to be flying by the seat of their pants to make a sale. You guys need to be more outspoken!　Make some noise!　Riot so hard you’ll get banned from here!　Bring me some wine!”

(Afterward, he did not fail to show consideration for the hotel, saying, “No kidding, thank you for the wonderful venue.) ) The party went on like a boys’ school festival until 8 p.m., when the party came to an end.

From the podium, the hosts spoke mostly of their gratitude not to the female guests who had contributed to their sales, but to their colleagues who had supported them. The New Year’s party is not for the guests, but for themselves. For hosts who put their lives into “sales,” it is the most spirited event of the year.

On the other hand, from the management side, it is a necessary event to keep employees motivated. In order to make the hosts feel that they want to be on the stage and win honors, and to make them enthusiastic about their work, the management prepares a glamorous stage without regard to money.

It is a matter of course to have glittering women as party girls. Some groups even have their own owners perform dances and songs, or even invite idols to perform live. There are also groups that have sex workers and burlesque girls entertain the hosts.

Even I, who was just observing the New Year’s party, saw the hosts being praised on the stage and thought, “Cool! I am sure that many of the junior hosts who saw their successful seniors must have admired them. All the hosts have a dream of “wanting to be on that stage,” and they talk about it to the girls who are their customers. The girls would then see his dream as my dream and spend a lot of money to contribute to sales.

Incidentally, this writer recalls the summer of junior high school when a host handed me a trophy he had won at a New Year’s party, saying, “I want you to receive a proof of my effort,” and I received a medal from a girl I liked at an athletic meet.

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.
He has been going to Kabukicho since he was 15 years old and has a wide range of personal connections.
At university, he is studying the sociology of downtown areas including Kabukicho.
His book, “Pien” to shakai” (“The Disease of ‘Pien’: Consumption and Approval of the SNS Generation”) is now on sale.

From the March 4, 2022 issue of FRIDAY