That's not new.

Hostesses, and their predecessors Geisha, have been well respected in Japan for hundreds of years, and for hundreds of years young Japanese women have been eager to be Geisha and hostesses.

Japan also has hosts, who make as much or more then their female equivalent hostesses, and hosts are equally well respected in Japan.

If some young American stud (black, white, Hispanic, or whatever) could learn how to fluently speak Japanese, then he could make a cool seven figures in one year in Tokyo or Osaka, if he could remember that hosts are not supposed to sleep with their clients.

but my tea parties were once all the rage.

First, Hiroko is a woman's name, so the reporter is a she, not a he.

Second, I agree that while the recession may be pushing more women into the industry, the mores were already changing prior to the recession.

Finally, Svutlov, I'm not sure where you get your assessment about geishas, hostesses, and hosts being "well-respected" for "hundreds of years". While hostesses are in a way a modern variant of the geisha, I think it is much more complex than just lumping them together, particularly in terms of social standing. And though there is an (increasing) level of acceptance, I don't know if this qualifies as "well-respected". But then again, perhaps your definition of "respect" differs from mine.

Geisha and bar hostess are two completely different occupations.

Japan has historically had a much more casual attitude towards sex than the West, which changed only during and after the US occupation.

"Japan has historically had a much more casual attitude towards sex than the West, which changed only during and after the US occupation."

Not quite, but close.

And I am sure both of our definitions of respectable differ from what Hiroko Tabuchi finds as respectable.

The point is I don't think the title of "Hostess" is any different today than it was 50 years ago.

Hostesses are nothing new, but I was wrong to say they have been around for hundreds of years.

Geisha have been around for over a hundred years, but not hundreds of years, but from their historical inception the title of "Geisha" has always been a respectable one in Japan.

Geishas have always been treated like national idols.

For the most part Hostesses have also always been treated like national idols.

Hosts are also treated like national idols in Japan.

To Parson Jim

A lot of Geishas have become hostesses, and Geishas are considered to be the predecessors to hostesses.

It is the same kind of work; entertaining clients, and the only real difference is that Geishas use tricks, music, and theatrics, where as hostesses focus on talk, Karaoke, and being up to date on current events.

Like hosts, neither Geisha or Hostesses are supposed to sleep with their clients (though they often times do out of choice, and the old days Geishas would enter into a sort of marriage as a second wife with their most esteemed patron).

"less extreme but nevertheless historically taboo work of hostessing"

According to who? I've never noticed it being taboo.

The only hostesses I know who try and hide it are those whose main jobs forbid moonlighting. For example, my local supermarket forbids even their part-time checkout workers from having second part-time jobs. The conventional solution is to commute to the next town over for your hostessing.

"Paying anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000 a year"

For the top 10% of women in the most overpriced 1% of clubs maybe. The typical rate is $12 to $15 per hour, maybe rising to $20 in cities, plus various bonuses which vary from club to club. These might include $10 per customer per month for exchanging regular emails with designated clients, kick-backs on orders for food or expensive drinks, etc. Do the math though: $100,000 simply isn't happening for the majority of women.

However, as a second job, or a night-time gig for students, it compares well to office cleaning ($9 an hour, perhaps), and it comes with an all-you-can-drink bar, pretty much whatever takeout you want to eat (and take home for breakfast for the kids), and for the most part customers who lend just as much of a sympathetic ear to your boyfriend/boss troubles and golf handicap as you do to their girlfriend/boss troubles and golf handicap (or whatever topic you have in common).

"reporter Hiroko Tabuchi" ... "He summarizes the situation "

Not really relevant to the article, but ... did you actually check the reporter's sex? A male Hiroko is not impossible, and with second- and third-generation American names all bets are off, but if the reporter is actually Japanese, you can be 99.5% sure they are female.

legal changes occurred during and after US occupation of Japan

http://library.osu.edu/sites/rarebooks/japan/2_4_photos.html

Hiroko Tabuchi is most probably a woman.

Hiroko is so common and so feminine a name in Japan (I personally know three Hirokos who are close friends on my family), so a Japanese family naming their son Hiroko would be like an American family naming their son Alice.

It could happen, but highly unlikely (about 99.5% unlikely).

When I first saw the "he," I though T C-F had simply made a typo, but I am curious as to why she wrote that Hiroko was a he?

In any case, you are right, it is irrelevant.

Your numbers in regards to pay sound spot on, and I would wager that Hostesses are making comparatively less now than they were before the recession, and I would wager that there is probably a higher percentage of hostesses now than there was before the recession.

What I would be really interested to know is life easier for hostesses now than it was before the recession?

Japan is also one of the few nations with a negative population growth.

http://slfm.blogspot.com/

I'm not sure where you're getting your information, but "always been treated like national idols"? Hardly.

Sure, there are some idols now that are former hosts/hostesses. And the occupation has and continues to be glamorized to an extent. But there has been and there still is a stigma attached to the work, albeit a lot less than before - which is the point, I think, Ms. Tabuchi is trying to make.

For a "respectable" Japanese family, it would have been unimaginable for their daughter to become a hostess, or their son to marry one. Less so now, I'm sure, but that's the point.

"Omizuppoi", or someone who looks like they're in the "mizushoubai" business (ie hostesses) is a derogatory term meaning "cheap and gaudy".

Respectable, indeed.