Show Notes
Former-idol, former-hostess, and current maid Alice talks about how the pandemic has devastated nightlife businesses, and how the fact that that they might never bounce back could be a blessing in disguise, if the disguise is a really sparkly cocktail dress.
(We’re assuming that you know "idol," "hostess," and "maid" are words we are using in English to describe things that are RADICALLY different when used in Japanese. If you didn't know, then listen to the show!)
Ollie looks back on the first and only Coyote Ugly river boat voyage, and proves that hindsight might be 20-20, but his dance moves are a solid 10.
Bobby puts his pandemic money to the best possible use.
Topics discussed on this episode range from:
- Why now is the best time to buy a vending machine
- What's on Brian's mind
- The Tokyo Olympics Creative director resigning over his Watanabe Naomi "Olympig" idea, and who the real victim is
- Why they're planning the Opening Ceremony NOW?
- The Anti-asian anti-sex worker hate crimes in Atlanta
- The overlap between night-life and sex work industries
- Disappointment in America's inability to face up to its own racism
- JBRC Press Club reporting from @mrpetersidell and @mytwoyen on the landmark same-sex marriage court decision
- A run down of all the night-life terms that you'll need to know, including all the iterations of girls bars, plus the varying degrees of escalation from "flirty waitress" to "sex worker"
- What's difficult for English speakers about trying to navigate the Japanese language around red-light/night time entertainment
- How Bobby accidentally labeled (literally) a coworker a woman of the night
- All of Ollie's hostess "friends"
- What services do the non-sexual hostessing establishments provide, and why are the necessary?
- How does the cultural demand/acceptance of this kind of work compare to the West?
- Does this connect with Japanese traditions around female entertainers/companions like Geisha?
- What Alice thinks about what makes a hostess successful and what men want from their interactions with hostesses
- Are there Western equivalents of hostess clubs?
- What accepting a job as a hostess means in terms of dealing with sexual harassment
- Why "hostessing" would be kind of an inconceivable career in the West
- The two types of men Alice thinks you can divide hostess club clients into
- How the night industry, hostess clubs in particular, bore the blame for covid spread during the beginning of the pandemic
- How that contributed to the sense of shame in patronizing them, and the very real business consequences of the negative associations with corona
- Why Japan assumed "untraceable cases" meant "hostess club"
- How Japanese women and society at large view men who patronize hostess clubs and /or sex workers and the double standard that affects the women who provide that service
- Who works at "foreign hostess clubs"
- The future for the industry post-corona, and what Alice thinks about the possibility of the industry evolving to be compatible with modern standards of gender equality
- The numerous paradoxes involved in the power dynamic between customer and client in the industry, and what perpetuates the success of the industry
- The view hostessing gave Alice into Japan's patriarchy and the male psyche
Extras are, as always, genuinely hilarious. Get access to them by supporting the podcast for less than $1 an episode. Become a member at
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Topics discussed on the extras range from:
- Everything you've ever wanted to know about St Lucia, if the things you wanted to know are the same things that Ollie wanted to know
- A comparison of covid and murder death tolls, and also conbini quality cross country
- What's so great about Gregg
- How Bobby earned a twitter block from Alice and the lessons learned
- Alice's history in the idol industry, including managing her own group, signing with an agency, and the unfortunate aftermath
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