Hoshino Kurumi (28) is the top money earner at a hostess bar in Tokyo’s Roppongi district.
Roppongi (六本木, lit. “six trees”) is a district in Tokyo that is well known as the city’s most popular nightlife district among foreigners, offering a large number of foreigner friendly bars, restaurants and night clubs.
Hostess clubs are a prominent part of Japanese nightlife, providing a space where men can pay for the attention and flirtatious conversation of hostesses as the alcohol flows. But most people would readily admit that the world of hostess clubs can have a darker side. Still, in recent years both host and hostess clubs have also gained some standing in popular culture.
Roppongi and the surrounding districts of Azabu, Hiroo and Akasaka are home to many embassies and a large expat community.
Two of Tokyo’s largest recent redevelopment projects, Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown changed the district’s face over the past decade and expanded Roppongi’s appeal to a wider range of visitors and residents with their elegant retail, leisure and residential space, offices and luxury hotels.
Kurumi earns about $46,000 a month sitting with men who buy expensive drinks and spends 40% of her salary buying gifts for her regular customers.