In Japan, when men go out at night, they often go to hostess bars. These are special places where you can drink and chat with friendly women. Men pay not only for drinks but precious time with hostesses. These days, going to a hostess bar could even be the one option among women. In Japan, there are different kinds of hostess bars. Each of them has their own way of making customers attracted. And also, the prices vary. Japanese people call hostess bars ‘Kyabakura’. Let’s dive into a Japanese deep and unique night life.

What is Kyabakura?

The term ‘Kyabakura’ is a shortened word for ‘cabaret club,’ which comes from a combination of the French word ‘cabaret’ and the English word ‘club.’ It is a Japanese English loanword. These are the meanings of each term Cabaret, Club, and Cabaret Club.

Cabaret
Cabarets were the place where customers enjoyed dancing with hostesses, and they played relatively loud music. After the World War, in the 1950s, cabarets were popular in Japan.

Club
Compared to cabarets, clubs are the place where customers enjoy drinking and talking with the hostesses with relatively quiet and relaxed music. Clubs exist nowadays while cabaret has disappeared as long as I know.

Cabaret Club
A cabaret club is a combination of cabaret and club, called Kyabakura. In kyabakura, you can enjoy drinking and karaoke with hostess women. Normally, each customer is accompanied by one woman.

How much does a kyabakura cost?

If you are planning to visit kyabakura, it’s important to know the various fees in advance so that you can enjoy the time without any surprise. When you go to Kyabakura, you pay a set fee for one hour of time. During that hour, you can choose which hostess you want to spend time with. But remember, each Kyabakura might be different, so the experience can change depending on where you go and which hostess you pick.

When you go to Kyabakura, you pay a certain amount of money, which could be anywhere from 3,000 yen to a lot more depending on which kyabakura you go. And even in the same club, the prices might change depending on when you go.

Now, when you want to choose a specific hostess to hang out with, you might have to pay an extra fee. We call this fee “Shimeiryou” in Japanese. It’s just an extra bit of money you pay if you want to spend time with a particular person at Kyabakura.

So, at Kyabakura, if you don’t have a specific hostess in mind to hang out with, you can still have fun with any of the hostesses there. It’s like a surprise! But if you end up really liking one of them and want to spend more time with her, you can choose her later.

When you choose a hostess on the spot, it’s called “Jounaisimeiryou” in Japanese. It’s just an extra fee added to your bill.

Now, let’s talk about the average and basic prices:

• 20:00~20:59…￥3000
• 21:00~21:59…￥4000
• 22:00~LAST…￥5000

These prices would be added on your bill.
Extension Fee(30 minutes)…￥3000
TAX10%
Single charge ¥500
Nomination fee…￥2000
Nomination fee on site…￥2000

Where is Kyabakura in Japan?

You can find kyabakura everywhere in Japan as long as the city is relatively big. Especially, Kabukicho in Sinjuku, Tokyo Red Light District is the most famous place for Japanese night life culture.

How much does a hostess make money?

You might wonder how much the hostesses can earn. The average hourly wage is from 3,000yen to 5,000yen. (approximately from 20 dollars to 34 dollars./as of December 13,2023)

However, the salary of a hostess is subject to change depending on the rank of cabakura, how popular the hostess is, and the location as well.

Do you think this salary is high? It is higher than regular part-time jobs when you compare to Tokyo’s minimum wage of 1,072 yen (approximately 7.36 dollars./ as of September 2023), it is possible to work at an hourly wage that is more than double the minimum wage. 

What is Kurofuku?

If you already have visited Cabakura in Japan, you might have seen the men look like this.

These men are called Kurofuku. Basically they are in charge of waiter duties during business hours. Their work is mainly to take orders and bring the ordered drinks and foods to the table. Depending on the cabakura, Kurofuku people make alcoholic drinks for customers. The other important work for them is to solve problems between hostesses and customers if something emergency happens. Kurohuku is required to keep a careful eye all the time during the business hours to make sure if a whole situation is alright. The experienced Kurofuku are also entrusted with the important role of “Tukemawashi”, deciding which table the hostess should have a seat at depending on the customer’s preference. Kurofuku is a necessary work in cabakura.

What kind of people do they go to cabakura?
Why do they go?

You could’ve thought that those who go to cabakura are crazy to pay so much money just for drinking with hostesses. So do I actually. There are many types of people who go to cabakura. The most common reason is that they are accompanied by their boss or colleagues or people who they have relationships with in the business. They go to cabakura to get along with one another.

I have heard there are some cases where the other really wants to enjoy cabakura but the others aren’t willing to go there but are hesitant to say ”No”.

Considering money, I wonder why they don’t go to an Izakaya or a restaurant instead of cabakura? I am a woman so I can’t understand the minds of those people.

How Japanese people think about hostess job?

Generally speaking, the level of understanding for the nightlife industry is still law in Japan, even though the awareness of the level is getting higher than a decade or two decades ago. Most parents don’t think they want their daughters to work in cabakura. They are thinking like, instead of getting a higher salary, the women are exploited by men.

Personally speaking,I respect those who work in Cabakura.

Even as Japanese, we rarely have opportunities to know about nightlife in Japan. I did know those kinds of places such as Cabakura exist, but didn’t know what the hostess’s work was like? I think I used to just look at those people who work in cabakura in disdain. I thought they were crazy because they are making good use of being women as a weapon to earn money and just flattering men for money.

But I researched it and after watching a documentary about cabakura life on Youtube, it has changed my thoughts. I learned they are proud of their work. They are seriously facing their work. I want to send them great respect.

If you would like to know more about Japanese culture, feel free to click the post page below.Cheating Culture: Here’s What Japanese think about cheating