Japan's 'geisha guys' the latest accessory

• Story Highlights
• The latest must-have item in Japan is a male 'geisha'
  
• More busy women executives are willing to pay for male companionship
  
• The cost for a night of flirting and compliments can run to $50,000

By Kyung Lah
CNN


TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- At first glance, the man and woman at the nightclub look like any other couple on a date. He flirts and pours champagne. She looks at him and laughs.
This isn't a date, though. It's business.
The woman, a successful executive, has joined a growing number of professional women in Japan in forking out from $1,000 to $50,000 a night for male companionship.
They meet their "hosts" in hundreds of clubs that have sprung up around Tokyo - the industry says only compliments are exchanged. The women pay for a man to lavish them with undivided attention.
"There's nothing wrong with a woman paying to be entertained by a man," one female client says. "It's just another step in equality."
It's a dizzying reversal of traditional gender roles in a country long known for geishas pampering male clients with conversation, singing and dancing. Now a new breed of entertainer has cropped up -- think of them as male geishas.
"I give women things that men normally don't do, like complimenting their appearance," says one host, 24-year-old Yunosuke, who only goes by his single host name. "I make women happy."
And they make him happy: Yunosuke says he earned more than $200,000 last year, enough to let him visit a salon once a day to have his hair dyed and blow-dried.
"Women see us as one of their accessories," he says. "They like to wear nice things, so I try to look prettier for them all the time."
What drives the business boom is an increase in the earning power of Japanese women, according to Air Group, a company that owns a chain of "host" clubs.
"Japanese women are now working hard and making more money," says Yuko Takeyama, a woman in her early 30s who manages Air Group. "They see this as a way to de-stress."
Women love being treated well without the pressures that come with dating, she says.
Yunosuke's customer from the nightclub agrees.
"This is a gift for myself," she says. "It's the same as spending money on a trip or buying something."

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Attached Images

art.geishaguy.cnn.jpg (19.5 KB, 21 views)

This pic is way to emo for me. I like the more rugged look not a guy who has to "maintain" himself as much as a female. It just adds to the asian stereotype of being effeminate.

..........

if i hadn't read the article, i would've thought that the guy was a girl (sorry if it sounds mean) i like effiminate guys, but not that effiminate.

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Once you go Asian, you'll never go caucasian

he better have a golden rod cause i don't know a man I would pay 50k for.

I don't know a man I'd pay $1000 for a single night.

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YES! Men be men!

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What about a discount? Say... $999.99??

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He is pretty but that's "what's in" in Japan. Their idea of the perfect looking man is a bit different than it is in the west.

Me, I'm pretty much an equal opportunity girl. Rugged, pretty, or somewhere in between is fine with me. They just have to be a certain type but I really can't explain it beyond that.

I can think of a few men I'd pay $1000 for a night with: Johnny Depp, Russell Wong, John Cho (of Harold & Kumar fame)...