Japan's male geishas lavish attention on women
August 1, 1997
Web posted at: 1:59 p.m. EDT (1759 GMT)From Correspondent Jackie Shymanski
TOKYO (CNN) -- Role reversal has taken hold in the land of the geishas. At Japan's glitzy, gaudy "host" clubs, it's a woman's world where men fawn over females -- for a price.
"I listen to them tell me about things they wouldn't tell their husbands," says a well-dressed host, a 30ish-looking man wearing a blue pinstripe suit.
He listens because he -- and other so-called male geishas who work at the clubs -- are paid to.
Geisha Boys
Traditionally, geishas are Japanese women trained in singing, dancing and the art of conversation, to serve as hired companions to men.
Now, for a steep sum, male geishas give women clients all the attention they can handle.
Sweeping those customers beyond the reality of Japanese womanhood pays well. Some of geisha men make thousands of dollars a month. Payment may also come in the form of jewelry, boats and cars.
"I don't think anybody is completely satisfied with their life," says another host, a white-suited man who appears to be in his 40s. "They want to vent out their frustration."
The biggest complaint voiced to the hired listeners are about the unpaid men in the women's lives. Japan's male-dominated society is even more dominated by work. Husbandly duties get lost in a shuffle of paperwork.
The host bars serve attention as well as drinks.
Not surprisingly, when CNN asked women customers to speak on camera about the geisha men, none would.
In private conversation, however, some say they go to host bars to forget a less than happy homelife.
Others make their living in Tokyo's sex trade and come to the host bars after a night's work. But the hosts don't fret over a clients background. What's more important for the male geishas is making money. After all, this is business, not a personal life.
The attention the women get may last only as long as their money does, but the hosts insist the make-believe world is what the customers want.
Still, some women fall for the illusion and a sexual relationship may follow, although such transactions are private.
The clubs are not interested in real human emotion, just love for lease.
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