In the chapter "My Night as a Host(ess)" (pp. 158-168), Adelstein explains what hostess and host clubs are, and talks about doing an article on host clubs for the Yomiuri because the vice squad was conducting raids on some of them at the time (October 1999). The problem is that some of the clients of the host clubs start spending more money at the clubs than they can afford, and end up turning to shoplifting or prostitution to pay off their tabs. According to one host club owner (who claims not to exploit his customers that way), some of these clubs are actual fronts for the yakuza, who use them to lure women into the sex trade.

The club owner offered to let Adelstein try being a host for a night, and Adelstein took him up on the offer, and had a chance to interview two popular hosts in the process. A host named Kazu said that he makes about 600,000 yen (approximately $6,000) per month, in addition to expensive gifts from customers. He prefers cash, but the women usually give the hosts things like designer clothes and watches. He pawns some of the items for money, but the women expect to see the host wearing their gifts, so he bought a knock-off copy of a diamond-studded watch one client gave him, sold the original, and wears the fake when she comes to visit. He says, "But I don't feel like I'm exploiting her--or any of these women. I'm fulfilling their fantasy...They understand that I'm their friend only until their money runs out."

The other host, Hikaru, earns even more--about a million yen, or $10,000 per month. However, there are a lot of expenses associated with being a host--a nice apartment, stylish clothes, gym workouts and skin care products to stay desirable because "In this business, looks are the main thing." Apparently the hosts are also expected to buy gifts for their clients. Hikaru doesn't specify any special occasions for the gifts, but I remember that in the Yaoh TV drama about hosts, the number one host surprised one of his customers with flowers on her birthday. Out of the $10,000 that he earns, Hikaru is able to save $4,000, which he says is still pretty good.

Hikaru says that a good host must "compliment women skillfully. You can't just throw around generic lines...If you make the compliments unique to them, their eyes light up. I think that all women have their charms; you just have to look for them and recognize them."

And a lot of work goes into being a host, besides keeping fit and looking good: "You should be able to talk to customers about almost anything, even where they should send their kids to school. So I subscribe to four women's magazines to make sure I know what kinds of concerns they have. They also like to talk about television programs, but since I don't have time to watch TV I stay current by reading TV guides."

There are downsides to being a host, too. Hikaru says that his parents hate his job, and that a host doesn't really have a personal life. Even during his "free" time, he often has to go out with a customer--say, shopping or on a trip to a resort. In addition, it's naturally hard for a host to have a girlfriend. He says he understands why girls don't like to date hosts: "How is she going to know if what I say is real or an act? Sometimes I don't know the difference. Even if I'm with a girl I like, I sometimes find myself trying to play the angles, trying to manipulate her."

He says he doesn't plan to be a host forever, but he doesn't say when he plans to quit, or what he plans to do afterward. He did seem to show some interest in Adelstein's job, asking if one had to have a college degree to be a reporter. Hikaru became a host at age eighteen, and was 25 at the time of the article, so he'd been working as a host for about seven years and hadn't gone to college, although he sometimes told women that he was a law student at Tokyo University and was working to pay his tuition--"It makes the customer feel like she's contributing to society, not just to my wallet."

Btw, Adelstein didn't do too badly as a host. The women weren't exactly beating down the doors for his company, but Hikaru told him that he has a geeky sort of charm, that he talks too much instead of listening but tells interesting stories, and was "memorable and mildly amusing."

It was a really fascinating chapter--and good fodder for fanfic featuring the WMLM hosts! I don't think I'd want to be a host, though--it sounds like way too much work even if the money is good.

The rest of the book was quite interesting, too--you get a very interesting look at Japanese society, and how a Japanese newspaper works, and how the Japanese police department works. (There are a lot of good cops and good reporters, but they're often hampered by bureaucracy and political infighting.) Japanese reporters seem to form close relationships with the detectives--much closer than would be considered appropriate in the US, I think. The reporters are expected to court the detectives as sources, to the extent of visiting them at their homes and remembering things like their kids' birthdays. When Adelstein first started his job, he was advised to stop by the house of a key detective on the case, with a tub of ice cream for the detective's young kids--and although the cop was initially reluctant to let him in, the ice cream got him through the door. He and the cop and the cop's family actually formed a close friendship that continued over the years.

The first half of the book is pretty entertaining, because you're seeing things through Adelstein's eyes, and everything is still new to him and he's excited about his job. Despite the sometimes dark subject matter, there are a lot of humorous moments as well. The second half grows darker and bleaker--a friend commits suicide, another friend grows seriously ill, he gets in trouble with the yakuza, but most of all, he loses his journalistic objectivity and gets sucked in too deep when covering a story about sex trafficking. Foreign women were being lured into the country with the promise of easy money for hostessing jobs, but in reality, they were held captive and forced to work as sex slaves. He encountered a lot of indifference from immigration and the police along the way (not to mention his bosses at the Yomiuri), but managed to help break up one ring. Still, it wasn't enough--he became obsessed with helping these women and stopping the sex trade. His obsession put stress on his marriage, and worse, caught the attention of some dangerous people, putting not just himself, but his family and friends in harm's way. A friend and informant, a freelance prostitute, disappeared after promising to ask around and get some information for him, and he's haunted by the fact that she was probably murdered and it's probably his fault.

A very good and compelling read--it was hard to put it down once I started it. Highly recommended for anyone interested in crime, police procedure, and/or Japan, but be prepared for some heavy angst in the latter half of the book.