Host/hostess bars in Japan scramble to adjust to COVID-19 reality

No sooner had a customer arrived than she had her temperature taken and found herself escorted straight to the bathroom — where she was told to wash her hands and gargle — before being allowed to enjoy the company of her favorite host.

But then vigilance against the novel coronavirus fell away, the two beginning to snuggle on a leather sofa in apparent disregard for social distancing and prompting a gentle reminder from one of the managers supervising the floor that they needed to sit further apart.

“Alcohol sometimes leads to moments of intimacy, resulting in hosts and customers getting closer to each other or forgetting to put their masks back on,” said the head of Cruise who goes by the stage name of Ibuki. “It’s at moments like these that we, the managers, step in and make sure they remain seated and maintain a safe distance between them.”

The industry is now gearing up for the full lifting on Friday of Tokyo’s business closure requests, which would pave the way for host clubs and hostess bars in the capital to officially reopen for the first time in months.

In reality, a number of nightclubs had already resumed business to protect the livelihoods of employees. But the official reopening on Friday is expected to breathe new life back into the sector, with many parlors taking a stab at the new safety guidelines issued by the government on how to coexist with the pandemic.

Even as the official easing of restriction approaches, the industry faces an intensifying public backlash after reports emerged that a recent spike in Tokyo’s cases stemmed largely from what is broadly termed the yoru no machi (nighttime entertainment districts) in the capital’s Shinjuku Ward.

The surge is primarily the result of mass testing conducted by officials that zeroed in on a Shinjuku host club where an employee was found to be infected.