Re: Japanese Beauty nobly suffers in China

not this:


TV dramas inspire privileged princesses to dress up lives as nightclub
hostesses

Once scorned as a profession for trash and the traumatized, nightclub
hostessing is now the second-most favored job of young Japanese women,
according to Sunday Mainichi (12/11).

"Part-time workers and female university students -- and by university
students I mean the girls from really famous schools -- are flocking to
apply for jobs as nightclub hostesses in places like (Tokyo's
entertainment districts of) Roppongi, Ginza and Ueno," a cabaret club
talent scout tells Sunday Mainichi.

Fueling this drive for a job once seen as a last resort for the
desperate is the idiot box.

"A lot of the credit can be laid at the feet of 'Joou (Queen of the
Gals),' currently showing on the TV Tokyo network, and 'Kiken no Aneki
(Dangerous Sister),' which was on Fuji TV in September," a TV director
says.

"Joou" started screening on Oct. 7 and has rapidly built up a stable
following. It tells the story of a privileged university student whose
life is suddenly turned upside down when her dad's business goes bust.
The woman decides to become a nightclub hostess to earn some quick
money to help pay back papa's debts and strives to become her club's
top hostess in the process.

"Joou" has rated remarkably well, edging toward the 6 percent mark -- a
phenomenally good score for a show that airs in the middle of the
night.

"TV Tokyo would be absolutely delighted with that rating," the director
tells Sunday Mainichi. "There's a nude scene on every week, which
obviously draws the male viewers in, but there's also a large number of
women watching the show, too."

Success for the hostess story follows on the footsteps of "Kiken no
Aneki," the Fuji TV program starring Misaki Ito in the early autumn.

Both programs have combined to make sure that, among young women at
least, the flavor of the month has become stale whiskey fumes breathed
out by inebriated salarymen who'll also often extend their grimy paws
toward a hostess's thighs or more intimate parts as quick as look at
them.

A TV industry insider has no doubts that the success of the shows has
changed people's attitudes.

"It's a job where you get paid 5,000 yen an hour for just sitting down
next to some guy and pouring him drinks. And, if you're really lucky,
the club you're working for will even lend you an evening dress to get
done up in and look pretty. Financially at least, the terms are pretty
good," the insider tells Sunday Mainichi. "The dramas have made sure
that parents will no longer be so reluctant to see their daughters run
off and become nightclub hostesses anymore. (By Ryann Connell)

November 29, 2005

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