Toshiki Dan, 41
Nightclub Manager from Nagasaki
Could you describe your nightclubs?
Max is the newest. You know Formula One car races? There’s a beautiful girl with a parasol and nice costume. That’s the image of Max’s girls. Max also has a strip show. Girls at Buddy’s--my other nightclub--wear Budweiser costumes. Budweiser is famous all over the world. It’s a healthy and sexy image, I think. My nightclub Sanctuary is a lingerie club. Girls, around 21 or 22 years old, wear just underwear. They may take off their bra’s while dancing.Could you describe your routine?
We (he and his wife) wake up in the early afternoon. Twice a week we go to pottery class (a side business). I teach the basic class. The clubs open at 7pm. We check all three clubs every day, chatting with staff or customers. The staff tells us about any trouble there might be--drunks or sukebe (perverted) customers. At closing time, 1am, we do paperwork, then have a meeting. On Thursday night all the staff chiefs gather for a special meeting. We play mahjong until about 8am.What are the good/bad points of your job?
My employees are very young so I can stay young. The money is good enough to live on. And we have free time. Last year the manager and I went to 15 nightclubs in Tokyo, in Shinjuku’s Kabuki-cho, to get ideas. It’s not a great lifestyle however. People usually sleep at night and awake around 7am. We are the opposite. It’s bad for health and beauty. I can’t really think of the girls as women, only as humans, because they are my workers.How much time off do you get?
Sunday is a holiday. We take a week-long holiday about twice a year to go to hot springs or to travel overseas. In those cases we work extra before and after.How’s your salary?
Like a salaryman, but maybe higher.What about the future?
Space travel! (laughter) In a few years we’re looking to open an old folks’ home because the rapidly aging population is a problem. Then I want to start a lingerie club in Los Angeles. Our dream is to emigrate to America, maybe after ten years.Could you comment on the customers?
A couple of years ago drug companies often treated doctors at nightclubs to get business. But that became illegal. Now it’s “under the table” (secret). Many customers are single salarymen or tanshin funin (transferred spouses)--or so they say. Students come from time to time. One foreigner used to come. He slept with three of our girls! He’s a pretty boy.the end
This interview was originally published in Kansai Time Out magazine.