A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan which employs mostly female staff and caters to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation.
Host clubs are a similar type of establishment where mostly male staff attend to women. They light cigarettes, provide beverages, offer flirtatious conversation, and sing karaoke. The clubs also often employ a female bartender usually well-trained in mixology , and who may also be the manager or mamasan.
Hostesses often drink with customers each night, and alcohol-related behavior problems are fairly common. Businesses may pay for tabs as company expenses with the aim of promoting trust among male co-workers or clients.
Patrons are generally greeted at the door and seated as far away from other customers as possible. In some instances, a customer can choose with whom he spends time, but most often that is decided by the house.
In either case, the hostess will leave after a certain amount of time or number of drinks. Hostess clubs have a "no touching" policy, and patrons who try to initiate private or sexual conversation are removed.
