Tag - clubs

 
 

CLUBS

A DJ performs for attendees drinking coffee at an alcohol-free clubbing event in Singapore.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 16, 2025
Sober clubbing brews fresh beat for Singapore's Gen Z
Not into an environment filled with alcohol? Try hitting up a coffee rave in Singapore.
An advertisement in Tokyo's Kabukicho, Japan's largest red-light district. The country is home to a thriving adult entertainment industry and has recently seen a boom in sex tourism fueled by the weak yen and availability of red-light services.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024
From geisha to oshikatsu, toxic tropes fuel sex industry
It isn't only the foreign gaze that produces stereotypes of Japanese women as submissive and promiscuous. Local laws and cultural norms play just as important a role.
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 6, 2024
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
A weak yen, robust inbound tourism and social media have shone a spotlight on a park in Tokyo where men gather in search of sex.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Apr 25, 2023
Group for non-elite soccer clubs launches, eyeing more balance
A challenge the new Union of European Clubs faces is that the rival European Club Association is now the only club body UEFA recognizes.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 24, 2021
The art of 'leaking' in the Japanese government
Leaks do not have to be true — they just have to be perceived as factual by the individuals reporting them.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 1, 2020
Kabukicho host clubs under fire for spreading coronavirus
Some media outlets are weighing the pros and cons of mounting an actual 'blockade' of Tokyo's well-known entertainment district.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2020
Changing lifestyles and nightlife in Japan's post-pandemic 'new normal'
Like it or not, our world is going to be different moving forward, and some of the biggest changes may be in Japan's entertainment districts.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 18, 2020
Hard-to-trace coronavirus cases put pressure on Japan’s hostess bars
In the fantasy world conjured up by Japan's hostess clubs, the coronavirus pandemic has delivered an unwelcome dose of reality.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2020
Japan's nightlife entertainers head to cyberspace to dodge virus, host clients online
Hosts and hostesses in Japan's famous nightlife industry are turning to remote entertainment sessions as the COVID-19 pandemic forces them to create a safer environment to survive the public safety crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jan 23, 2019
What #MeToo? Dealmaking in escort bars thrives in corporate East Asia, including Japan
In Tokyo's Ginza, Seoul's Gangnam and Beijing's Chaoyang financial district, a familiar scene plays out almost every night of the work week. As dusk falls, businessmen flock to karaoke and hostess clubs to close deals and build relationships in the liquor-lubricated intimacy of young women.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 17, 2018
Flamboyant 'host club king' Takeshi Aida given an extravagant sendoff
An extravagant wake and funeral was held earlier this month in memory of host club Ai Honten's flamboyant founder, Takeshi Aida, who passed away on Oct. 25 at the age of 78 after a prolonged illness.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 17, 2015
How one Kabukicho bar allegedly ripped off its drinkers
A promise of a fun night out with drinks and hostesses for just ¥4,000 in Tokyo's Kabukicho district led to a tab totaling ¥2.6 million — and a death threat.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2014
Host clubs: a hotbed of human trafficking
The Japanese host. You can see them on the streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho: the dapper thin men with colored, blown-dry hair, fake suntans, snazzy suits and charming smiles, chatting up passing females and trying to get them to come and have drinks. They've been the subject of documentaries, television...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’