Men working at host clubs in Tokyo's Kabukicho district have often faced prejudice from people who object to the adult entertainment industry, and attitudes have hardened recently after authorities pinpointed such clubs as hotbeds of coronavirus infections.

It has been rare for people other than patrons and friends to get to know the thoughts of such young men, with their flashy suits and hair, but now a collection of 300 tanka poems written by more than 70 hosts in Kabukicho offers some insights.

The book, published in July, is titled "Host Manyoshu" in a nod to Japan's oldest poetry anthology dating back more than 1,200 years. The name of the current imperial era, Reiwa, is derived from the Manyoshu.