We help people have fun as they drink.
Hosts are idols that you can actually meet.
Money.
Time.
Women.
I've got all of them.
We hosts are like our own product or brand.
In a certain sense we're like clothing.
I still think I'm the top host in Japan.
And it's going to stay that way for some time.
Good morning!
It's not about just getting people to drink.
How would you feel, for example, if a complete stranger started messing with your personal belongings?
It'd bum you out, right?
You have to become friends with customers before thinking about getting them to order more drinks.
It's possible to get 2 or 3 million yen without drinking a drop of booze.
Sales come further down the road.
So are we clear on the order we do things in?
- Yes!
My name is Naoki Kishida.
I'm a producer for hosts.
I'll be 33 this year.
I'm from Osaka.
A host's job is to help the customers have fun as they drink.
It's all about hospitality and making people feel welcome.
As you can see, everyone has a number by their name.
There are around 100 guys in our group.
This poster shows the ranking of the top earners from No. 2 to No. 15.
So where's No. 1? He's over here.
He's got the biggest spot, with his own poster.
And over we have Fantasy, the name of this club.
This is the top guy in our club,
but he and the current No. 1 are rivals who compete for the top spot every month.
I'm probably going to be No. 1 again this month,
which will make it five months in a row.
I'm not very good at figuring out what women want.
This is something that Naoki, the producer, does better.
He's like a big brother who sets a good example for us.
I like how he always lives up to what he says.
I'm No. 5 at the club. Ranked fifth.
Naoki is like a celebrity.
I compete with him, so I shouldn't really admire him too much.
But I have to respect how good he is at making conversation and putting out a good vibe.
You could say it's about the money.
We're dealing with some pretty huge sums of cash at the club.
So I want to make sure I look nice.
I have to do things for people that aren't normally done for them.
I view each day as an important event for our customers.
This is Y+, a host magazine that's distributed nationwide.
It's full of info on host clubs from around the country.
Here's our club.
We do this act.
Here I am.
There's a contest called the All Japan Host Grand Prix.
It decides who the top host in Japan is.
I came in at No.1 at the contest on November 7, 2011.
And now it's time to announce our champion.
The winner is...
Naoki from Fantasy!
Here's our champion!
He will receive the grand prix belt.
I'm Naoki!
They determine who makes it to the finals by vote.
There are 20 hosts in the finals.
You get points for various skills that hosts need.
Things like luck, memory, conversational technique.
The winner is determined by adding up all of these points.
What they're looking for most though is your vibe, your aura, or presence.
Apparently they also looked at how we behaved backstage.
I sing with a group called Never Fade.
I get asked to be on TV from time to time as well.
I have a show on Niko Niko Douga called "Niko Night" too.
It's on every Tuesday.
I normally work every day.
It's a bit of a repetition of sleeping, waking up, and going to work.
I leave the house at 5pm, then maybe do some shopping,
or maybe have dinner with a girl before heading to work.
The club is open until 1am, so I usually get home around 3.
I've got plans with a girl tonight...
So we're heading to the spot where I'm meeting her.
She's an important customer. She comes almost every day.
That's Kabukicho for you.
Kabukicho, Shinjuku.
This is my home. My town.
Turn right and head to the Furin Kaikan.
There's a camera behind me today.
- Oh! That's funny.
Today I went to the beauty salon...
This one's all yours.
- Really? - Yeah.
I'm so excited!
I think around 80% of the people who come to host clubs just want to have a good time.
Our club is open from 7pm to 1am.
There are various things you can do for fun between these hours like karaoke, bowling, or eating,
but for them, going to a host club is the only option.
Welcome!
I'm gonna go doll myself up, so I'll be right back.
Some of the girls are lonely,
but I don't think they come here looking for a boyfriend, but rather a place where they can feel at ease.
There are girls who are more attached to this club than they are to the hosts.
I spend 2,000 yen a day for this.
So if you think about it, this costs me 60,000 yen a month.
- Congratulations! - Ah, so that's why you're all happy.
Today's a special day.
- He says it's his birthday. - Happy birthday!
- How old are you? - 25.
- We should celebrate right? - I'll order something.
- What should we drink? - Anything is fine.
- There's no need! - We have drinks on the table though.
What was that drink you mentioned the other day?
Oh, right. Get me that black box over there.
But Kan, this one's really expensive!
- How much? - It's heavy!
Wow, it is really heavy!
Take a look, it comes with an LED light.
- How much is it? - It's 3 million yen.
- Well, it's a special occasion... - You sure?
Let's do it!
You really sure?
- Seriously, are you sure? - It's Kojiro's birthday after all.
Happy birthday Kojiro!
Thanks to Kojiro's birthday, that bottle will contribute to my pay this month! So thanks.
She doesn't drink alcohol at all.
Even though she comes here, she always drinks Calpis.
She's getting her teeth whitened right now.
And yet she asked for hot chocolate the other day! I told her off for that.
Cheers and happy birthday!
He's my ideal man in every way.
I really like Naoki.
- On average, how much have you spent each month? - Around 5 million yen.
The first time I came, I was walking down Kabukicho.
Someone handed me a leaflet about the club. It seemed cheap so I thought I'd check it out.
- Yeah, the first time you only spent 1000 yen. - 500 yen, even.
So 500 yen escalated to 5 million yen!
The best parts of being a host are the money, time, women, and freedom.
I've got all of the things I just mentioned.
And there's no denying that I got them all by being a host.
1 million yen is not enough anymore.
I can easily earn 3 or 4 million in a month.
When I was in the ranking, I was always No.1.
Back then, I was dead set on something.
Not only did I want to stay at No. 1, I wanted to surpass the No. 2 guy's sales
by over 2 million yen every time.
The reason is, there's this cognac called Richard Hennessy on our menu.
It costs 2 million yen a bottle.
I wanted to make sure that no one would overtake me even if they sold a bottle of Richard that month.
I don't drink alcohol at all.
Or rather, I can't.
- Why aren't I drinking at this festival?
May we open another bottle?
Fine, go ahead.
And now one more time all together...
Happy birthday!!
- Why hasn't anyone collected their money yet?
You've got to stay on top of the time.
- It was like that last time. - Last time?
- We partied past 1am. - Dumbass!
Who the fuck do you think you're talking to!
- We always go past 1 am! - This way, this way.
You little piece of shit!
- This is fake. - What's fake?
We always keep going past 1.
Stupid fucking idiot.
Even though it's his job to make sure the customers leave at 1am,
he ignored that and was just drunk and goofing off.
He wasn't working like he was supposed to,
and when I called him out for it he got lippy with me.
I had to punish him.
I think the majority of our customers are women who work in the sex or nightlife industry.
I personally deal with a wide range of people.
We even get some male customers as well.
He decided he was going to work hard as a host, and came to Tokyo.
He thought about how he could become a famous host. He started a blog, for one.
After thinking long and hard, he chose to do one particular thing.
He spent 3 million yen on cosmetic surgery.
Maybe it's hard to tell, but I got my nose, eyes, and mouth done.
All of them.
- Did it hurt? - It most certainly did.
It was really painful.
Almost as painful as being apart from Ayaka.
- Was that supposed to be funny or just stupid?
I thought I needed to spend money to increase my appeal as a man.
Money is what we all have in common.
Working as a host is the only way you can make 1 million yen within your first month on the job.
Here's the money for last time.
- Thanks.
2 million?
- So you left home today? - Yeah.
But it isn't like you were running away or anything, right?
Are your parents cool with it?
- They're probably going to file a missing person's report.
- You got a dream in life?
Not right now.
Honestly, I'm more impressed with guys who come here without a dream, but end up aspiring to be a great host.
I'm off to shoot a live 1 hour program.
After the shoot, I'll be done for the day!
You made this.
I'll just kick them away.
What makes me glad that I did all this
is the freedom, and the fact that I've achieved what I wanted.
I'm glad I work as a host because I really enjoy what I'm doing right now.
In general, I don't do anything special.
I'm bad at keeping in contact with people.
But, when you step inside my club,
I'm working harder than any other guy in the place to make sure you have a good time.
There's one thing you need to succeed as a host,
and that's confidence.
Confidence.
A sense of style is important, too.
Even the best looking guys won't look cool unless they have good taste in clothes or hairstyles.
You use that sort of sensitivity, as well as experience, and your personality, to present yourself well.
People tend to think of our world as an unrealistic place,
but we're all just people.
This humanity is one of the things I want to value.
Actually, it's the number one thing I want to maintain myself.
So you could say humanity is the key to success.