Yu felt a rush of excitement as she walked into his bar for the first time – eager to meet the charming young host she’d been following for years online. On that cold January night last year, they ...

An American citizen living in Japan says that she was nearly sold into indentured slavery when she went on a Tinder date with someone who claimed to work as a club host. Abi (@abikuru), a digital ...

In Kabukicho, a red-light district in Tokyo, four young men surround your female correspondent. Hiragi Saren, a 25-year-old with bleached hair, a black tank top and a silver necklace, sits closest. He ...

Japan's host club industry, where women pay for romantic attention, has been criticised for exploitative practices. Some suggest the need for regulation, but current discussions oversimplify the ...

Host clubs, where young male staff "pamper and flatter" female guests, are "booming" in Japan. Some 21,000 male hosts work at 900 of these lucrative establishments but opaque prices for drinks and a ...