Chelsea Haywood, 90-Day Geisha
This book has a misleading title, as Chelsea Haywood did not spend 90 days as a Geisha but as a hostess in a Tokyo club. She went there with the intention of writing this book, because she could not find one that anyone else had. Hostessing involves mixing customers drinks, lighting their cigarettes, clapping when they sing karaoke - and the part I would find hardest - humouring their small talk. Overworked Japanese men pay to "have someone listen to whatever they feel like saying".
In order to earn bonuses, 'Chelsea-san' has to persuade men to arrange a certain number of monthly paid dates (Dohan) with her outside the club. Although the club warns the girls not to be alone with the men at any point, many of the girls Chelsea meets and she herself spends (platonic) weekends away with various men. It hits home to Chelsea just how dangerous such behaviour is when she discovers Greengrass, the club she works in, used to be called Casablanca - the club Lucie Blackman worked at before tragically going on her last Dohan with Joji Obara, who was subsequently convicted of her murder.
The girls working at Greengrass are all foreign - Romanian, Colombian, Israeli, American, Canadian, Chinese, Russian but not Japanese. The novelty factor appears to be part of their appeal for Japanese men, combined with the fact that they can impress the girls easily by showing them unfamiliar Japanese customs and experiences. Chelsea has an advantage in that she can speak Japanese, and that she has been a fashion model, so looks are on her side. Despite a habit of making sharp cutting comments, she quickly becomes popular among the club's middle-aged male clientele, who buy her extravagant presents and meals out.
Who gets the worst deal out of the system, the girls or the men? Many of the hostesses engage in a predatory activity called 'bottling', involving walking the streets of Toyko at night until men offer to buy drinks. The bar gives the girls a 30% cut on the cost of the drinks in return for the business the girls bring in. In return the men get the privilege of drinking with a beautiful young woman. In this situation the girls might win out, but the constant sexual talk and butt-pinching Chelsea encounters in the hostess club get to her. She comes to see hostessing as a "never-ending procession of men who, without meaning to, sucked the life out of you, paid for it by the hour and then came back for more".
Although the book has this darker side, many of my favourite parts were Chelsea enjoying herself as a tourist in Toyko and the surrounding countryside. One of the restaurants she visits serves only live seafood, literally squirming on your plate and fighting back in your mouth. Not that I fancy doing that, but it's entertaining to read about a country so different to mine.
In order to earn bonuses, 'Chelsea-san' has to persuade men to arrange a certain number of monthly paid dates (Dohan) with her outside the club. Although the club warns the girls not to be alone with the men at any point, many of the girls Chelsea meets and she herself spends (platonic) weekends away with various men. It hits home to Chelsea just how dangerous such behaviour is when she discovers Greengrass, the club she works in, used to be called Casablanca - the club Lucie Blackman worked at before tragically going on her last Dohan with Joji Obara, who was subsequently convicted of her murder.
The girls working at Greengrass are all foreign - Romanian, Colombian, Israeli, American, Canadian, Chinese, Russian but not Japanese. The novelty factor appears to be part of their appeal for Japanese men, combined with the fact that they can impress the girls easily by showing them unfamiliar Japanese customs and experiences. Chelsea has an advantage in that she can speak Japanese, and that she has been a fashion model, so looks are on her side. Despite a habit of making sharp cutting comments, she quickly becomes popular among the club's middle-aged male clientele, who buy her extravagant presents and meals out.
Who gets the worst deal out of the system, the girls or the men? Many of the hostesses engage in a predatory activity called 'bottling', involving walking the streets of Toyko at night until men offer to buy drinks. The bar gives the girls a 30% cut on the cost of the drinks in return for the business the girls bring in. In return the men get the privilege of drinking with a beautiful young woman. In this situation the girls might win out, but the constant sexual talk and butt-pinching Chelsea encounters in the hostess club get to her. She comes to see hostessing as a "never-ending procession of men who, without meaning to, sucked the life out of you, paid for it by the hour and then came back for more".
Although the book has this darker side, many of my favourite parts were Chelsea enjoying herself as a tourist in Toyko and the surrounding countryside. One of the restaurants she visits serves only live seafood, literally squirming on your plate and fighting back in your mouth. Not that I fancy doing that, but it's entertaining to read about a country so different to mine.