Japan: Just a Gigolo-san

Westerners have never quite understood geishas — those well-schooled, delicate wisps of femininity clad in elegant kimonos who coo sweetly over tired Japanese businessmen on the town for a night. Naturally, the men always leave their wives at home; unnaturally, they rarely get to go home with the girls. Baffling as that is, consider the newest addition to Japanese culture: the male geisha.

Two night spots, Club Tokyo and Night Tokyo, now cater to an all-female clientele with well-scrubbed young hosts in dark suits who are available for cosy chats and dancing at $2.22 per hour. The aim, explains Club Tokyo Manager Motoki Inoue, is "sex equality in this he-man's land." Nightly, merry widows in miniskirts and portly housewives in kimonos turn up where the boys are. Some come in for the evening from as far as Osaka on the 125-m.p.h. bullet train; nearly all are between 30 and 40 years old. A middle-aged maitre d' guides each first-timer to a host after discreetly asking her preference. Regular customers streak straight to their favorites. Says one fortyish matron: "My husband leaves me alone with my two children at home for his golfing. I make my husband mind my children once in a while so that I can come here and dance with the boys." Adds another: "My husband? Why, I'm sure he's somewhere having his little fun with cabaret girls. I'm here to even the score with him."

The scene is generally sedate, but things can get out of hand when customers develop what Manager Inoue calls "a more than routine attachment to some of our boys." One lady arrived to find her favorite host with another client. She promptly belted down half a bottle of whiskey, demanded a duel with her rival—and found herself quickly shown the door. Another, similarly offended, poured herself a large sake and made local history by shredding her kimono on the spot.

The hosts, generally in their twenties, have varied backgrounds: one hopes to be a graphic designer, another once taught ballroom dancing, a third studies by day for his Ph.D. Each must sign a pledge agreeing, among other things, not to unbutton his jacket or dance slower than the beat of the music. To Ryuji Kami jo, 27. a much sought after host at the Club Tokyo, the life of a male geisha is not all sake and cherry blossoms. Of the customers, he sighs: "One moment, they are full of sunshine, then the next, full of thunderstorms. It's a hard life we lead here."

Among its other rigors: Night Tokyo, for example, forbids cheek-to-cheek dancing, suspends hosts ten days for kissing clients, and sacks them for "impure relations." Insists Night Tokyo Manager Hideo Hoshii: "Nothing impure goes on around here."