The Life And Times Of A Tokyo Bar Hostess

T O K Y O, March 16 -- Let's call her Magda.

She is a pretty woman, in her early 20s, with long legs, long hair and a quick wit. She speaks excellent English, and now has a handsome Canadian boyfriend.

Magda is doing this interview as a favor; but also as a warning to other young women who want a taste of adventure in Asia.

Not everything you see in Japan is exactly what it seems, she confides.

Magda worked in a hostess bar, in one of the nightclub sections of Tokyo. The area is called Roppongi, and by day it's a bustling, cheerful quarter, cluttered with shops, restaurants and coffee bars.

By night, it is a kaleidoscope of neon lights, fortune tellers and sidewalk hawkers selling watches and ties to the passing crowd.

But go up several stories and there are other, darker businesses, often controlled by Japanese crime gangs known as the Yakuza.

They are small, dim bars run by watchful, sharp-eyed owners, both men and women. Places where men come after dark to drink and eat and be entertained by hostesses.

History Repeats

The hostesses sport professional smiles and seemingly endless patience. They are expected to completely cater to the customers, helping the men to more food and more drink, served up with jokes, laughter … and more alcohol.

In the old days, it was referred to as "The Water Trade." In centuries past, the ruling Shogun sectioned off one part of Tokyo, exclusively devoted to pleasure. Male pleasure.

Samurai entering the "Pleasure Quarters" checked their weapons at the front gate, partly so they would not murder each other after excessive drinking bouts, but just as importantly to keep knives from falling into the hands of the desperate prostitutes penned inside who wanted more than anything to kill themselves as their only escape.

Today's pleasure quarters are more sedate; but the search for pleasure by Japanese men often leans to the exotic.

Like Magda.

Model Mix-Up

Magda worked as a promotional model in her East European homeland, usually at events like trade shows.