Dream Lifestyle? Think Again

Glen / 23 Comments / October 1st, 2008 / Subscribe via RSS

Osaka Japan, it’s 1pm and the Japanese men who work at ‘Stylish Cafe Rakkyo’ are arriving. Their job entails talking to gorgeous and wealthy women all day while being bought drinks of which they earn a commission. The average member of staff earns around $20,000 – $30,000 per month.

It sounds like the dream job for most men; it is no wonder so many of them flock to this area to become what they call, a Host. However, surprisingly or not, only around 1 in 100 last more than a year.

Photo Credit

I’ve just finished watching a documentary for the second time called ‘Great Happiness Space’ which documents the lives of these ‘Hosts’ in Japan. Their job is to entertain all their customers – usually attractive females – by listening to their problems, giving them affection and sometimes sleeping with them.

I remember myself thinking throughout the first half of the documentary that this must be an amazing job and how I would love to be able to get paid to do something similar. Especially when they are earning close to half a million dollars each year.

However, the more I watched it the more those thoughts disappeared and the more I could see exactly why most men don’t last long in the business. Here are the links to the documentary if you don’t want me to spoil anything, feel free to check it out (about 1 hour long) and then come back here once you are done.

Edit: As I went to find the links I see they have now been removed from Youtube. Search around for ‘Great Happiness Space’ and you should be able to find it somewhere.

Pros vs Cons

As I mentioned, when I first started watching this documentary I thought it was the dream job. In order to help you understand what it is about I’ve listed the Pro’s of the job that I found from watching the videos. I’ve also watched them with friends who had a similar view so hopefully these aren’t biased in anyway.

Pros of being a Host

• These men earn $10,000-50,000 per month
• Their whole day is spent partying and drinking alcohol
• They are paid to talk to attractive women all day
• Often their clients want to sleep with them

I don’t think the last point is legally allowed to be classed as a Host’s job but it is all about creating a relationship with their customers so that they keep coming back.

Cons of being a Host

• They vomit daily due to excessive alcohol
• After daily shifts many break down crying
• They hate that they manipulate women to fall in love with them
• They find it hard to trust others
• Relationships are very difficult after working there

The reason they drink so much alcohol is because that is how they make their money. Their clients buy bottles of champagne worth $500 for around $5,000 and the host earns a commission.

A Very Sad Realisation

Towards the end of the documentary you realise something very sad: 90% of their clients are actually prostitutes or call girls. This is the reason they have so much money and can afford to spend it on the hosts.

In case this doesn’t make much sense to you, let me go into detail a little more. Basically, these girls charge men to talk to them or even sleep with them and that is how they earn their livings. They make their clients think they have a future together so they should keep paying for their services.

However, then they go to a host club and do exactly the opposite, they fall in love with their hosts and think if they keep paying them they will get to win them over. They don’t see past the fact that they are doing this to others and the exact same is happening to them.

What is even worse is that many of these girls broke up with their boyfriends, fiancees and husbands in hope of a future with the host of their choice. The main reasons they go to these clubs is because:

• They want attention in one way or another
• They want to be happy
• They want to be loved

Isn’t that what we all want? There is one woman in the documentary that has been going there for 5 years. 5 years of her life working as a prostitute then spending all that money in the hope of love from a staff member at Cafe Rakkyo!

It is things like this that let me know my journey to help others find their true selves, which includes happiness from within, is the right one. It’s the kind of thing I was referring too when I said in the introduction post:

I know people (myself included) are going to look back on this post in years to come and think “Wow…that’s how it all started”. I’m very confident that I can achieve my goals because this is what I’ve been waiting for, this is my passion.

There is a reason I want to share this message…

What You Can Take from This

I’m not here to promote a documentary but I am writing this to help you see what I saw in it. We are all living our lives with the hope of brief periods of happiness. We go through the low points but spend them wishing for the next high point whether it may be a pay rise or the holiday you are going on in a few months. These women are constantly looking for fulfillment in Host’s, but it is never going to happen.

True happiness has to come from within, as that is the only place it can come from. I once mentioned in a previous post that I had a mini epiphany – when we buy something that makes us happy it isn’t like we are taking a pill that is affecting our hormones, we just expect to feel better for it. The feeling is fleeting, but the feeling that was experienced came from within, don’t look for reasons to be happy, just allow it to be.

I guess the final point to take from this is that not everything is as it seems and you definitely need to look at both sides of the coin or an argument to get the full picture.