Memoirs of a cocksure Kyoto rickshaw runner

Cyzo (January)Coolies are cool. At least that's the message coming out of Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto, where rickshaw coolies hauling around carts for tourists have become the latest heartthrobs, according to Cyzo (January).

Once a job largely for downtrodden types regarded as virtually unemployable anywhere else, rickshaw coolies are fast becoming one of the hottest attractions in Kyoto.

"Coolies are hot," a Kyoto resident tells Cyzo. "Nearly all of them are good looking enough to be with Johnny & Associates (a talent agency famous for employing pretty boys). There are whispers going around that operators deliberately employ hunks because they want women to ride on rickshaws."

Most Kyoto coolies are in their 20s. Many are handsome and, thanks to a job requiring them to lumber loads around all day, well built. There's little surprise in the idea of women finding them attractive.

Rickshaw hauling is a fairly busy business, running during Kyoto's peak tourist season that runs from cherry blossom parties in March through to the changing colors of the autumnal leaves that continues until early December. An average workday starts at around 6 in the morning and continues through to about 11 p.m. Popular coolies start receiving orders and the most famous of them attract patronage rivaling that of the most successful escorts working host clubs.

"Of course they're good-looking, but they also know a lot about the area and have a manliness that's pretty hard to find anywhere else," a woman in her 30s on tour in Kyoto tells Cyzo. "I don't think I'm the only one who finds the coolies a turn-on."

A Kyoto Tourist Bureau insider adds that the coolies do more than simply pull rickshaw around. "Transporting people isn't the only task rickshaw coolies perform. They're also fantastic tour guides and will always take a snapshot for you," the insider says.

Tourists aren't the only people to have fallen for coolies. With Kyoto attracting 45.54 million tourists in 2004, the market has grown to a meaty 40 million yen a month. Becoming a coolie is also one of the hottest jobs for young guys in and around Kyoto, making positions pretty hard to come by. Its popularity, though, doesn't necessarily come because the job is an easy one.

"You've got to run anywhere from 20 to 30 kilometers a day, pulling a rickshaw behind you. It's a hell of lot tougher than it looks," a Kyoto coolie tells Cyzo. "I wouldn't expect to become an expert coolie on impulse." (By Ryann Connell)

Cocksure