“Wanna go to a host bar?”
That was the question a host in his 20s asked a woman as she was walking down the street in an entertainment district of Nagoya. Unbeknown to him, the woman was actually a plainclothes police officer out on patrol, but it turns out the man had an initially unapparent identity as well – he’s a junior high school teacher.
The incident, which was reported this week, took place on the night of February 11 in the city’s Sakae district. During a subsequent investigation, it came to light that in addition to working as a host and barker for the host bar, the man is also a part-time math teacher at a public junior high school in Nagoya, where he teaches about 20 hours a week. According to investigators, the man lives with his parents and has been working as a host two or three times a week since late last summer, not so much out of financial necessity but because of an attraction to the line of work.
In Nagoya, full-time teachers at public schools are classified as civil servants and must disclose and receive approval for any secondary employment or side business ventures. However, civil servant-status does not extend to part-time teachers, and so the man was exempt from this requirement. The situation gets somewhat muddier, though, with a vaguely defined stipulation that the secondary jobs of part-time teachers not undermine the credibility of their teaching position or otherwise prevent them from sufficient and proper devotion to their responsibilities as an educator. “He hadn’t caused any problems at the school,” commented one member of the Nagoya Board of Education, though. “I heard he’d been working diligently.”
However, the incident is still likely to be the end of the man’s teaching position with his current school. While host bars themselves aren’t illegal, Aichi Prefecture (of which Nagoya is a part) has an ordinance against host and hostess club workers approaching passersby on the street in the manner the man did, and he was arrested for the violation. While his night job as a host may have been a gray area in the eyes of the Board of Education, it sees breaking the law and getting arrested as conduct unbecoming a public school teacher, and is moving to dismiss the man from his position.
Until now, the board has purposely avoided enacting blanket rules disallowing certain types of secondary work, in the interest of avoiding unfairly stigmatizing certain groups of workers. “Working as a host is outside of what we’d considered,” said one member following the man’s arrest, though, and the board is considering establishing more explicit rules for the future.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun via Otakomu
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- https://soranews24.com/2023/04/25/middle-school-teacher-moonlighting-as-host-bar-host-arrested-in-nagoya/
64 Comments
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Moonraker
The reality is that he is too far down the food chain. If he were higher up he could get away with much more nefarious activities with not even a slap on the wrist.
Jayel
Title should read: Man works 2 jobs, penalized by unnecessary bureaucracy
Belrick
The man is just trying to earn some extra cash. Teacher salaries are not great as it is, so you can't blame him for wanting to boost his income. If he knew the law pertaining to soliciting though, well, he only has himself to blame.
shogun36
Well, at least some police officers do their “job” and patrol, I guess. That’s definitely news in Japan.
But Japan also claims a “shortage of teachers” as well.
I’m not defending the guy, but sometimes, you gotta let stuff slide……at least with a warning or something.
And he should at least have the intelligence to keep it inside, not be on the streets, hustling.
Abe234
And this is why I really think the police can be a right bunch of …….! So the guy asked someone if they want to go to a host bar. So can I ask, what is the crime that warranted being arrested? And surely don’t the under cover police have better criminals to go after? Not illegal but the BoE still can’t help but punish someone, for doing a job but if your a perv, or even abuse a student, you kinda get a pass, and moved to another school. Sometimes I wonder why we pay taxes! A hard working guy, looses his job because of some jobs worth rule. I wonder, can’t the police just give him a warning, instead of ruining peoples lives.
Fighto!
One has to feel for the guy just trying to earn some extra cash.
There should be no law against touts on the street trying to encourage patrons into bars or restaurants. What type of stupid law is that?
Daninthepan
Sounds like he's now free to pursue his dream job.
Not sure host bars are as innocent as they are being made out to be. There was the article about a woman who ended up in prostitution to pay off her host bar bill a few months back and I'm pretty sure the Yaks have found a few nasty ways to exploit vulnerable women into taking debts through these, "harmless bars"?
krustytheclown
A victimless crime.
daikaka
Being a host is a far more lucrative career than teacher anyways. Within a year he will be making far more than 100M annually, with majority in cash, as current rates for “after” service even for low tier hosts is above 1M yen, and the industry is in exponential growth phase. Most hosts can retire by 30 with networth well north of 2000M yen.
daikaka
browny1
Arrested? As in jail?
Wow - get the big criminals!
How about some kind of "official warning".
Now an apparently young diligent maths teacher - they don't grow on trees - gets shafted.
Pity the same level of policing can't clean out corruption in the political world.
browny1
Just read a little more info.
He was arrested on Feb 11th and released without indictment on March 3rd.
So he was jailed for the "magical 21 days".
What a waste of time, money, energy and resources.
And that's not even taking into account publicly black-marking a person and his livelihood.
kohakuebisu
Teachers shouldn't be allowed to work as hosts, too much risk of grooming girls as future customers.
Obvious point out of the way, the interesting thing here to me is a 25-year old teacher working part time. A teacher just out of college needs to be working full time to get experience which they will not have. The reason a 25-year-old is working p/t as a teacher is because the conditions will be terrible. The "twenty hours a week" are likely to be mostly contact hours with no paid prep. He'll probably be on something like 150,000 yen a month. Its also likely that such teachers will be working in non-achiever schools. Can't we do better than this for our children.
wallace
He did nothing illegal he should sue for damages.
Fighto!
I'd be stunned if many hosts earn 100m Yen annually (US$750,000)
I'd be stunned if most hosts can retire by 30 with "networth north of 2000 Million Yen" (US $15,000,000)
daikaka
You’d be stunned that most girls are willing to pay hosts at minimum 1M a month, with just 10 or so customers a host already makes over 10 annually. That is not adding the interest payments they will receive in their later years
>
jforce
Civil servants do have a code of conduct, but not many do during a drinking party or festival. I feel bad for this guy. Just trying to earn some extra money and he gets nabbed for a question to an undercover cop. Sad for everyone ... waste of time and resources.
wallace
Why did the undercover cop agree to go with him? Bar hosts are not illegal.
Fighto!
He approached the female cop on the street asking her to go to his club. This IS illegal in Aichi. (Why? I dont know)
Ricky Kaminski13
Sounds very much like this dude is himself a victim of the dreaded thought and morality police that walk the halls of the J education system, either that or some PTA member got wind of it and made a claim that had to be scratched. If he was doing his day job well, in a saner world if it were brought up in a meeting that he was moonlighting, someone would step in and nip the idea of taking it further in the bud. You know, basic common sense.
But nay, not in this world, undercover cops were brought in. Sigh. You gotta love their fervour, even if it is cringe worthily misplaced.
commanteer
Right. Just like you can become wealthy in a year working 4 hours a week - if you just buy my get-rich-quick course. Believe the fantasy.
rainyday
Just FYI Nagoya doesn't have a "Sakae Ward". The area called "Sakae" is in Naka ward.
Moderator: Thanks for pointing that out.
daikaka
There is an exponential increase in demand for hosts especially since covid, and it is the driver behind the phenomenon of Japanese girls going overseas to make money and okubo park etc. People are just deluding themselves on host income now because they dont want to admit that a CEO would be making less than an average host with 6 month experience.
runner3
One of the most ridiculous stories I've read about Japan's legal system.
Clay
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time, don't do it!
Contracts matter!
kurisupisu
I know many hostesses working with children, in hospitals and dental surgeries
Its rife!
This article is much ado about nothing
Being kept incarcerated for 21 days for?
Again, Japan shows its backwardness…
kohakuebisu
Young men do not go to hostess bars. The customers are older wealthier men, at the high end using them for corporate-type hospitality. So children are not at risk of being groomed to go to hostess bars as customers.
Conversely older women do not go to host bars. They are far too streetwise and can see through the scam. Host bars are attended by young women. The business model is to entice them to go there and emotionally hook them to keep coming back. Its a grooming based business. JHS students are already at risk of developing crushes on teachers, at that level its natural and can't be helped, but it certainly should not be encouraged by putting people trained in grooming women (i.e., hosts) in that environment.
A host bar is not a hostess bar with men instead of women. Anyone who thinks that doesn't understand how they work. The business model is completely different.
raincloud
This is what happens when you have Showa-minded people in city offices and at the heads of schools.
Zaphod
daikaka
Where do you get those figures from? I have seen the trucks advertising the income of the star hosts, but how many get to that level? I would expect that the vast majority earn very little or completely fail at the job. The idea that they all become successful sounds strange.
Jonathan Prin
Once he was arrested and jailed for 3 full weekq, the schoolboard had to explain his absence ans could not tell it was for no reason.
As always, he was found guilty by default.
602miko
It is the BOE rules and regulations. And it's on the pledge of duty no double work. The police are just doing their job. The BOE wanted to control the teachers for overwork and stress. But some are breaking the rules.
daikaka
You should understand that shop income is only a small part of a host’s actual income. Hosts provide “after” services to their regular clients, sometimes sexual, and the rates are usually above 1M in cash. In addition, there are also douhan services before the shop opens, again will get paid in cash. I know several hosts personally and 1 was even given a sports car by one of his clients. 1 is a co-worker who quit several years back and is making several hundred million a year as he is also underground idol. I also know an jav star who told me personally she have paid a certain host more than 200 million yen. There is massive demand for hosts at the moment, as it is not only for the girls themselves but also for their social standing, with hosts acting similarly like a branded handbag. As such the number of hosts making more than 100M in store sales have exploded exponentially, and keep in mind that out of store “sales” is generally 3x-5x of in store sales, an average hosts who survive the first couple of month trial period should generally expect 100M+ annual income. Keep in mind that as covid opened borders, more and more Japanese girls are going overseas to make more money, of which the majority is funneled into the host industry.
Moonraker
Kohakuebisu and daikaka, thanks for your comments. Food for thought.
GillislowTier
Teachers in their first years are both somehow on single year contracts, just a teensy bit over part time, AND obligated to work the same hours and style as full time fully paid teachers without being able to work a second job to afford basic cost of living things
Good system.
I’ve known someone who worked as a host and science teacher in jhs. The school knew and was fine with it because once again, one year contract and living on 160,000 a month while being told to stay from 7am to 11pm daily, ain’t it.
Mr Kipling
Maybe he was a host moonlighting as a teacher?
Zaphod
daikaka
I understand that such "after services" exist and that sometimes enormous money is involved. But for how many hosts does that apply? When a young guy starts at a host club, he surely does not have any "regular clients" that fork out millions to him. Fwiw, I have also seen articles here on JT about hosts shoplifting at supermarkets because they were hungry.
Try Occams razor: If if was that easy to become enormously rich overnight, would not every young guy do that?
Again, please provide some sources for your claims.
daikaka
There are numerous articles about girls spending millions of yen on hosts. Asking for sources is just your way to escape from truth.
every guy do not do it because few people know about how lucrative it is and not many have the looks to do it
3RENSHO
"Aichi Prefecture (of which Nagoya is a part)..."
A part? A minor part? Could that clause have been any better phrased, I wonder...?
smithinjapan
Half the police force and board of ed people are probably hoping this case goes away quietly so they can visit the region as customers again.
dan
Nagoya is the main hub city of Aichi !
Zaphod
daikaka
And how many girls have millions of yen to spend? And of those, how many are stupid enough to spend those millions on hosts? Some perspective would be advised.
piskian
My colleague and I seriously considered starting a host van which would visit the remote valleys of Gifu , merely to sit and listen to wives venting about their problems.
On alternate days,we'd operate it as a fish 'n' chip van.
This man should be applauded for his ingenuity.
rainyday
Not sure that I understand the issue there, Nagoya is in fact a part of Aichi prefecture.
And while it is the biggest city in Aichi by far, its still a big prefecture. Most Aichians don’t live in Nagoya.
falseflagsteve
What a terribly queer affair. Sometimes I giggle when I see this stories making national news, soooo different than in Western countries isn’t it?
therougou
From what I hear, often girls that work as hostesses or some similar jobs use a large portion of their earnings on hosts. So the money keeps circulating around the same shady businesses.
JRO
So the illegal activity was him working as a catcher, which I hear has become illegal in many parts. As for the host part, stop with all these grey area stuff, either you make it illegal or it should be just as okay as anything else.
runner3
602miko,
the police should be out fighting real crimes, not dealing with a labor contract. And do you think a young man working 20 hours a week shouldn't be able to go out and get extra work?
proxy
I believe EVERY full time employment contract that I have ever signed has a clause that either restricts outside work or at least required me to get authorization. He broke his contract.
1738Kwaaa!!
According to investigators, the man lives with his parents and has been working as a host two or three times a week since late last summer, not so much out of financial necessity but because of an attraction to the line of work.
The shallowest explanation I have ever seen. It makes me wanna puke. Full time teachers are poorly renumerated and unfairly overworked in Japan. Now think of a part time.
FYI I know certain city's part time teachers working between 8am-14:30 and earning 5000yen. No transportation fee, if they own a car they need to pay for parking at the school, no paid holidays.
runner3
Kurumazaka2.1,
Why should he be fired? Should he be fired for being a writer part time? Who cares what he does on his time off if it's legal.
runner3
Proxy,
He was only working 20 hour's a week!
Marc Lowe
What he does on his own time is his business. At least he approached a female policeman. This shows he has a good business sense; targeting woman of questionable beauty to come to his host bar. He seems ambitious, too. He helps the youth by teaching and lives at home to save money and out of filial piety to his parents. I hope his parents don't ostracize him, but support him in his time of need. Shame on the police for interfering with small businesses.
Joe Blow
Working PT, possibly contract-based, is he a civil servant? If not, is there a law prohibiting this?
Zaphod
proxy
He was working part time, so why do you assume he had a full time contract?
itsonlyrocknroll
Please a modicum of common sense needed here, I frequent Aichi Prefecture, well not recently, however past, both nocturnal and diurnal for business and recreation, the usual drink and dining etc.
Seriously a second job as a host barker should hardly warrant a seconds thought.
Teacher or otherwise.
The host barkers I have been sometime in the vicinity of are laugh out loud caricatures of tanned, no creosoted, yapping beach posts drenched in eau de Cologne strong enough to stop a charging rhino.
Let the guy make a second income, just enact a law to dissuade him from drowning in blue stratos. Old Spice, Paco Rabanne, Aramis, or heck, Brut.
MilesTeg
Just leave people alone. Great example of bureaucratic arrest and punishment.
lillibet
Now just think, if this was a politician or business man caught doing the same thing, we would not even be reading about it. Ah, the long arm of selective justice.
CarlosTakanakana
So in a few years... unemployed man living at home with his parents. Japan has a great way of destroying peoples lives. How about stop interfering in peoples lives.
Chop Chop
Most unluckiest dude on the earth. He has lost two jobs simultaneously, and also he was arrested too.
Lepyon
You sir, are no Deuce Bigelow!
602miko
@runner3
Teacher only a teacher cannot do a double job!
It's on the Pledge of Duty.
wallace
"In Nagoya, full-time teachers at public schools are classified as civil servants and must disclose and receive approval for any secondary employment or side business ventures. However, civil servant-status does not extend to part-time teachers, and so the man was exempt from this requirement."
They can't have their cake and eat it.
virusrex
Not in this case, but for other kinds of jobs a part-time position(非常勤)can still count as a civil servant, specially in national institutions. Workers in these conditions would have pay/bonuses only according to the number of hours worked every month and limited contracts but are expected to fulfill all responsibilities of full-time employees (disclosure of any other income source, avoid receiving gifts over certain amount, not having paid dinners with people that would constitute a conflict of interest, etc.)