Is there really a demand for that many clubs?

UnicornHunter

UnicornHunter

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When I was in Shinjuku, my hotel was near many buildings that housed an insane number of clubs (mostly the ones that featured the boy band guy type based on the large banner adds). Like one small building had 20-30 crammed in there yet I would rarely see anyone go into these buildings.

I sort of had one of my questions answered near the end of my stay when I did see two girls exit a club talking to one of the guys. They were on the unattractive side and a little chubby, so that kind of tells me they type of clients who may frequent there.

But the sheer number of these places (there has to be hundreds) in Shinjuku I thought was staggering. Is there really that big of a demand for these joints and what really goes on in there?

And to pre answer the potential snarky comments, no I do not have interest in finding out in person....
 
UnicornHunter said:
And to pre answer the potential snarky comments
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Like we wouldn't find other snarky comments to make!

Just kill them all and let god sort them out; I mean the market decides if there is demand and if not the weaker ones go bust.

I would not find it a very attractive idea to open a club in Japan, but then again there are drinking holes in Shibuya that have four seats for customers and they seem to stay open for years. I mean if someone wants to lose money by being a club owner who I am to say to him it's not a good idea?
 
UnicornHunter said:
I mean the rent alone must be enough to put anyone into bankruptcy....
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Just like the drinking holes with just a few seats; even if the places would be full all the time they wouldn't be able to afford rent.

Not that I would know anything about that but someone hinted me that for example the video rentals etc. would be an easy way to launder money...
 
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MikeH said:
Even then it would be a hobby where you lose money.
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So if it isn't a Yak establishment, why they doing it?

One time my work took about 15 of us to a tiny Izakaya joint for a small afterwork thing. We had the place to ourselves for the night and like you said, there was no way they would be making any sort of profit....
 
UnicornHunter said:
So if it isn't a Yak establishment, why they doing it?
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Some of the owners I have talked sound like they are retired and do it to pass the time and maybe even have people to talk to.
 
There are also a lot of venues that are pay to play, so bands/DJs pay the venue owner to do a show (or be in a line up of other bands/DJs) in the venue. Therefore they don't need to make money on the number of customers that are in the venue, because that money goes to the band/DJ the individual is there to see, the bands/DJ will pay in advance for their spot in the lineup. The club owner then gets to make money off the bar.
 
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And these places don’t have to make a profit, if they break even, that’s probably enough. Also, given the prices these places charge, they don’t need to be busy all the time, and the wages the staff get are pretty low. A non p4p example, KFC makes 10% of its yearly earnings in three days. 12/23-25) ‘why don’t we make that much every day?’ Is a question only a westerner would ask.
 
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UnicornHunter said:
I mean the rent alone must be enough to put anyone into bankruptcy....
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Shinjuku is no West Village...rent can be much cheaper than you might think. Besides, liquor pour costs at those places are around 10 percent of the sales. Having 10 customers per night, spending 3000 yen each, would be enough to get the business going.
 
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Ken1988 said:
Shinjuku is no West Village...rent can be much cheaper than you might think. Besides, liquor pour costs at those places are around 10 percent of the sales. Having 10 customers per night, spending 3000 yen each, would be enough to get the business going.
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I had totally forgotten door fees in Tokyo are a bit high. 3K is on the low end there are a lot of places that charge up to 5k just to get you to walk into the door. Compared to the US where it might be $15
 
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namae said:
I thought OP was asking about JPN host clubs...not live houses or dance clubs.....?????
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Was he? It wasn't so clear to me he mentions "mostly the ones that featured the boy band guy type based on the large banner ads" I guess that could mean host clubs with guys that look like they are straight out of a Japanese boy band, but that isn't how I read it originally
 
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Some of my clients mistake those club staff (hosts) for boy bands too :) I guess they do give a boy band vibe by being part of an overcrowded group of young men who put too much emphasis on their looks.

They must be making good earnings tho, I see some of them wearing “Chrome Hearts” jewelry. (Which is veeery overpriced if you ask me) If you have no idea, they are just appropriating plenty of vintage French or Christian jewelry motifs. Since the material the brand uses is mostly aged silver, I believe their customers could get similar authentic vintage stuff elsewhere but they choose to pay for this brand.
 
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UnicornHunter said:
Have you ever been to one?
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Do you think I will spend my hard earned money on barely legal looking men (boys? Kids? Otoko no ko?) who wear makeup? :p I’d rather spend the money on a flight back home and reunite with my family to avoid that kind of burnout.
 
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No insult intended. Just was wondering what goes on at these places that seems to command hundreds of them to exist within meters of each other with almost no traffic flow into the establishments.
 
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UnicornHunter said:
No insult intended. Just was wondering what goes on at these places that seems to command hundreds of them to exist within meters of each other with almost no traffic flow into the establishments.
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No, no I don’t feel insulted. I was just being very honest.
I think what happens is a pyramid where on top there are the successful guys who lure in big spender ladies who soak them in champagne and then at the bottom we have the boys who are trying to make it by soliciting women on the street. Sometimes they talk to me, say hi, or try to practice their English. (Foreign customers are often seen as trouble though, so this doesn’t happen very common) As much as I am not attracted to their appearance I can’t help but feel compassion for these young boys who are hustling for whatever life goals they have.

The sad truth is while the top earners will rake in millions of yens, the guys at the bottom will barely make ends meet. At least this is my theory because this is always the case in any club, or sex work in general.
 
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I think both Alice and Jennifer left some reports about their ... let's call it adventures ... In this kind of establishment. I vaguely also remember some movie or semi documentary about this being linked here too.
 
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I saw a recent documentary that covered a bit of this but I didn't think I saw the whole story.
 
Well, I'm totally not interested in this business. Many years back I asked a female Japanese friend, if I had to be careful here, since I was worried they would try to pull me in ... Mind you, that area just starts when you escaped the hunting grounds of those nasty Nigerians. 5 minutes later, when she had finally stopped laughing, I got, to my great relief, assured that this was safe territory. I guess had I ever seen someone go in or out that question wouldn't have been necessary;)
 
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