Geisha of the past and the present (even male!).

Another term that is distinctly and uniquely Japanese, among other such as sushi, sakura, onsen etc. is definitely geisha. In the shortest way of defining them, they were Japanese female entertainers and hostesses of the past. And here again, I allow myself to refer to another western-written book about Japan, again once a bestseller, "The Memoirs of a Geisha". I read it as a high-schooler, so obviously I was over-captivated with this Japanese version of Cinderella hidden behind a culturally rich novel. (On a sidenote, the author, Arthur Golden, was a Harvard grad too, History concentrator, and he took the very classes of Japanese Ba and Bb that those at Harvard learning Japanese know so well! ;).


Going back to the main point, the Geisha are supposed to still exist, though they became extreme rarities. Gion in Kyoto, the most famous Geisha district in whole Japan, once an exuberant and lively entertainment district of tea houses, is now much more subdued and it is only with some luck that one can get to see a real Geisha on the streets (and yet it is one of the few places where any Geisha can spotted at all). I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the wonderful scenery from the "Memoirs of Geisha" Hollywood-made movie, but I think we got lost on the way, as I never really saw what I saw on the screen (or maybe because nothing in reality ever looks like what's on the movies? -- a philosophical question for one to ponder ;) ). On the other hand though, we did walk into a real Geisha and I rudely, like a crude tourist, took a sneaky picture. She was indeed breathtaking.

In our wanderings to find Gion, we walked into a dark sketchy-looking alley, with many locales of seemingly incomprehensible purposes. It was only after we picked up a colorful catalog lying on the street that we learned the true nature of that alley - it was the hostess district, a modern version of Gion (and how conveniently close-by). Looking at the catalog full of profile pics of Michikos, Minakos and Amis, we started noticing that the only wanderers in that dark street were white-collar salary men, carrying their business bags and glasses. So this is the famous Japanese hostess club!


But that's not all of it yet. What we found at the end of the catalog, was a massive ad of male host clubs. Here we had profiles of all Hirokis, Mamorus and Kens. So what should 5 ladies on a lonely night, finding themselves in one of these streets, do? Of course, we couldn't be more eager to get in. The district was a bit sketchy though, many of the clubs located in unattractive, dark and even dilapidated buildings, so we had no other choice but go for the brightest but also the most expensive club with a flashy (and oh dear, how lame) name "Club French Kiss" (here's the link). The interior was loud and rather dark, but at least they served some drinks. The male hosts were quite distinct. They were supposed to be handsome, but I'm not sure to whose standards. Because to me, they looked like long skinny cats with plugged eyebrows, who ever so often looked into their mirrors to check out their hair. To American standards, they were pure-blood gay.

The policy in the club was easy to pick - although drinks were free, all they could serve was Sex on the Beach. As for champaigne, you had to pay yourself, on toe of the entrance fee ($45 per person per 1,5 hours), and the more champaigne you bought the more male hosts you had. Here's an illustrating example: there was this salary-earning, rather loaded-looking woman sitting next to us, in her thirties, completely wasted. She had a row of 20 Chmapaigne bottles piling and 5 loud hosts (one half-naked) attending her. On the opposite site, there was us, the 5 American students, with their broken Japanese and empty purses, who ordered no champaigne. We were served by 2 hosts only, sometimes even dwindling down to 1.


What surprised me was that the lady was quite good-looking, definitely very chic, and with her salary, I bet she would be receiving quite a bit of attention in her everyday life. So why was it that she even went to and spent a fortune in that host club? As my friend Brandon assessed, he would be so depressed knowing that the only way to receive attention is to pay others to do so. Yet, escort is such a widespread phenomenon in Japan! Of course male hosts are definitely less numerous the female hosting, which is available in every city (even in this little Kanazawa city, where I stayed, the PII guys managed to go to one of them). And the root of this phenomenon is so irresistibly linked to the Geisha tradition (which in itself seems to be a bit over-glorified in the modern times).

And here's the little (illegally snatched) video from the club.