J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>The 'JIN' Japan Inc Newsletter<br>A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends<br>in Japan.<br>Issue No. 458 Wednesday March 26, 2008, Tokyo<br><br>What do you know about hostessing? Part three<br>
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<br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br>This week's JIN comes from a young woman who worked in the<br>hostess trade in Japan. It chronicles some of her experiences <br>and wider observations about the industry. To read part one <br>
please visit: <a href="http://www.japaninc.com/jin429">www.japaninc.com/jin429</a> and to read part two go<br>to?www.japaninc.com/jin252<br><br><br>In response to our reader 'C.J.' I decided to continue this <br>series by focusing on what happens outside of the hostess club. <br>
C.J asked me to elaborate on the practice know as 'dohan.'<br><br>Most hostess club and some snack bars require their hostesses, <br>per month, to spend time with the customers before or after <br>work. The only required extra time is called 'dohan.' In the <br>
hostess business 'dohan,'which literally means 'to accompany' <br>or 'going with,' is a paid for date. The customer or the hostess<br>will arrange to meet a few hours before work starts, have dinner<br>
and then the customers will accompany the hostesses to the club.<br>The hostess clubs charge a flat rate for the customers to take <br>the hostesses out which varies from club to club. The customers <br>of course pay for the dinner and other activities like any other<br>
date. High-end clubs will require the hostesses to go on <br>anywhere from 3 to 5 dohans per month; if they do not meet this <br>requirement then they will be docked pay. There are also <br>'afters' which is when after the club closes (usually between 12<br>
and 2 am), the customer takes the hostess(es) out for more <br>drinking and usually eating. The most popular places to go are <br>dart bars, karaoke bars, and other snack bars that are open in <br>the morning for the purpose of the 'afters.'It is also very <br>
common for hostesses to participate in other activities besides <br>dinner dates, and more drinking. One of the most popular <br>activities is golfing, which many hostesses pick up because most<br>of the customers play golf. The golfing outings can be like a <br>
dohan, where after the 'date' the hostess brings the client to <br>the club, or they sometimes happen on weekends. To re-iterate, <br>the difference between a dohan and a date is that a hostess will<br>bring the client to the club and then the club will charge the <br>
client for the hostesses' time. <br><br>As C.J. mentioned (<a href="http://www.japaninc.com/jin429#comment-762">http://www.japaninc.com/jin429#comment-762</a>), <br>dohans and afters are essential for a hostess to maintain her <br>
customers. By spending time outside of the club with clients <br>hostesses can build a more personal relationship which <br>facilitate entertainment in the club setting later. Dohan are <br>also essential if the hostess is to build enough client decent<br>
relationships to sustain a good income, or money from tips or<br>gifts to be able to set up independently. However, this is where<br>the lines between hostessing and prostitution begin to blur. <br>Most will not have intercourse with a customer for pay, however <br>
others feel that they should in order to maintain a good <br>relationship with their customers. Others get taken advantage <br>of. I can not say definitely whether or not any of the hostesses<br>that I know ever had sex for money. But in any other work <br>
environment, this would not necessarily be an issue of <br>prostitution. For instance, you work in office and your client <br>happens to be attractive, so you ask her out on a date. You pay <br>for the meal, the taxi, the movie, and the after dinner drinks <br>
at the darts bar and then you take her 'back to your place.'<br>This is a common scenario. Would that be considered <br>prostitution? <br><br>It is important for a hostess to have one or several big <br>customers if they are to be successful. These men can make or <br>
break a hostess, they provide financial support through gifts, <br>and if they spend enough in the club, they can make their <br>hostess number one. The 'number one' receives an extra cash <br>bonus at the end of the month, and if the number one continues <br>
to bring in money they also receive priority in other aspects of<br>work, such as getting put on the track to be a chi-mama <br>(vice-mamasan/manager). This aspect of the work is where dohans <br>become very important, because not only does the hostess get to <br>
spend more time with her client but she also earns more money <br>for the club via the dohan charge/fee. <br><br>Both establishments where I worked did not require me to attend <br>dohans. The foreign club where I worked did not require it of <br>
any of the hostesses, and the high-end Japanese club did not <br>require me to because they did not think I could. I did however <br>go on dohans, afters and dates with customers. Many months I <br>was at the bottom of the payroll and in ranking at the hostess <br>
club because I was not required to go on dohans so I never <br>arranged them. However one month I actually did go on a few <br>dohans with an older hostess, her customer and his son, so I <br>was not at the bottom. The way we would know who made the most <br>
for the club was through the payout system. We would have our <br>monthly meetings and envelops filled with our pay would be <br>giving out in order of number one, number two and on down the <br>line. The number one would also receive her extra bonus at this <br>
time.<br><br>By 'June'<br><br>++FEEDBACK<br><br>Want to comment? It is now even easier to voice your opinion<br>than ever before! Simply post a comment below the article<br>online at <a href="http://www.japaninc.com/jin452">www.japaninc.com/jin452</a><br>
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