Thursday finally arrived, and John called us up one by one to give us our money. I was expecting about £1900, as I hadn’t been on any Dohans or been an A request, so I was just getting the very basic wage. My envelope contained 210,000 Yen, which is less than £1000. John said this was because I had been fined for the ashtray, turning up the Karaoke machine, being sent home, being drunk… the list went on. I got really angry, and started to shout at him. He shouted back, and told me to show him respect. I began to cry, and one of the other girls took me to the toilet to calm me down. Later on I found out that one of the other girls, a 19-year-old Swedish girl had been paid even less than me. Apparently they did this all the time, if you weren’t making the club any money. It was to encourage you to buck your ideas up, and make some cash. When we had arrived John had taken our passports, and he also had my ticket home. We were signed to a 3-month contract, and would get our Passport and ticket at the end. I was trapped, and £1000 in Tokyo is nothing. I owed money to people too, so I was left with about £700. I’ve never felt so scared, and helpless before.

I called my sister the following day, and told her what had happened. She promised to contact the agency, and to try and get me moved to another club. She called me back, and said that the agency had been really reassuring, and that they were going to speak to John and try to smooth things over.

Naomi and I struck a friendship after John fined us both. She was almost 10 years younger than me, but we were both frightened and lonely so it didn’t matter. This meant that I didn’t have to hang out with the other girls, which was a relief. I still went out almost every night, and gradually I got to know some of the workers in Roppongi. The guys that worked in Harvey’s were all really lovely, and they looked after us. Some of the Iranian guys were really kind to us too, and didn’t actually want anything in return. I met an Israeli guy called Terry at a party in Yoyogi Park, and we began seeing each other. I told him all about John, and how we were treated at City Lights. He sold jewellery (of course!), and said he would be able to get me a job. I was really tempted, but John had my passport so I would have to work the 3-month contract.

There was a problem with the 2 houses used for Hostesses at City Lights, and we had to relocate quite suddenly. Naomi & I were moved to a small apartment in Azubujuban on our own, which was great. Naomi had met a guy called Pete, and we had both made some good friends in Roppongi. Life at City Lights was terrible, John seemed to hate me, and was constantly finding fault with my hair, make up, clothes, accent, everything. By this point I had given up on being a ‘Successful Hostess’, and just accepted that I would spend most evenings sitting alone in the waiting area. A lot of the time Naomi was there too, and we would text each other on our mobiles to pass the time. (Tommy the dealer had given us pay as you go phones). As soon as it reached 2am, we were free and would run off to visit our friends and have fun.

John was really unhappy about out behaviour, and had asked ‘H’ to follow us after work. We had seen him in a few bars, and he had told us that we were not allowed to go out after work, but we just ignored him. One night we were in Wall Street bar, and John walked in with ‘H’ and 2 other Yakuza guys. They headed straight for our table, and John told Naomi and me to get our stuff as we were going home. I told him we wanted to stay, and a few of the Iranian guys came over. It looked as though it might get nasty, so we left. We were escorted to our apartment, and John told us to be at work early the following evening.

When we arrived, JJ was there waiting. He was a strange looking guy, I think he was about 60, but had had a few face-lifts so his face had a mask like quality. He was very smartly dressed, and had an air of power about him. I was sent to sit with him. He smiled at me, and simply said ‘I think you go home’. I laughed and said ‘Sorry?’ He then leant forward and said ‘you are going home in 2 days. Back to England. We do not want you here’. I started to argue with him, and to say that I was more than happy to leave City Lights, but that I wanted to stay in Japan. He explained that I had to leave the country so that our contract would be terminated, and if I wanted to return that was fine, but I must leave first. I got really upset and ‘H’ came to take me away. Naomi then went to speak to JJ. She was also told she would be going home in a couple of days. We then had to wait in silence until the other girl’s arrived and then carry on working.

I called my sister, and she just said to come home and we would try to sort it out. She had tried to contact the agency again, and they had been really rude to her. She was understandably upset, and wanted to try and expose the agency in some way. I told her I would see her in a couple of days.

That night Naomi and I were in a state of shock. Neither of us wanted to go home, we had made friends in Roppongi, and knew we could both get other work. We spoke to a Stripper called Tasha, and she said she knew a nice guy who was opening a Hostess bar in a few weeks, so we should come back and get a job there. We spoke to her friend on the phone, and he said he would definitely have work for us, and that we should go and see him when we arrived back in Tokyo. Tasha said she was going to Thailand for a month, so we could use her apartment whilst she was away. All we needed to do now was go back to London, and then book flights back to Japan. We could get a job in a decent club, find our own accommodation and enjoy ourselves in Roppongi without John and his crony’s breathing down our necks.

We did go back to London for 2 weeks, during which time I slept at a friend’s squat in Southwark. I had to live on next to nothing so that I had money for my return flight. City Lights had ripped us off once again when they paid us, so we had very little. I was comforted by the fact that we had work and a roof over our heads to go back to.

We met a friend of Tasha’s at Narita airport to pick up the keys and directions to her apartment. It was in Roppongi, so we headed off to dump our stuff and clean up ready to meet James and discuss when we could start work. The apartment turned out to be a small room in a hotel, with a single bed. We didn’t care though; we were both just so happy to be back and starting afresh. I changed into a short black dress, high heels and a new wig of long auburn hair. We set off to find out about our new jobs.

The club that James owned wasn’t open yet, so we had to talk to him outside. He said he didn’t have a definite opening date, and didn’t really know how many girls he would need. He promised he would be in touch soon, but we left feeling disappointed, and lost. We went to Harvey’s, and the manager there told us that if we could get men to buy us Champagne he would give us a percentage of the bill. We were both broke, so we decided to give it a try. Western businessmen would come into the club, and Simon (the manager) would introduce us to them. We then had to sit with them, and persuade them to buy us expensive drinks. It was actually really easy, and I spent the whole evening with an American lawyer called Phil. He bought several bottles of Champagne, and at the end of the night Simon gave me over £100. He said I’d done really well, and that I was welcome to do that every night. Phil and some other guys we had been talking to decide they wanted to go on to a Karaoke bar. Naomi was there too, and some of the dancers I knew from Snake-eyes. We all went up to a room in a 24-hour Karaoke bar, and ordered more Champagne. Phil made me sit on his lap, but I was drunk and having fun so it seemed ok. Abbas, (one of the Iranians) arrived and started chopping out lines for everyone. We were there for hours, and Naomi and I didn’t get home until 4pm. It was fun though, and it had taken our minds off not having a job. Nothing had really happened, the guys had been a bit touchy feely, and Phil had insisted on kissing me a few times, but I liked him so it was fine. I went to sleep and ignored my empty stomach.

That evening we planned to go to all the Hostess bars and try to find work. I put my Hostess clothes and wig on, and headed off. The first few bars wouldn’t see us at all, and then others we were looked over by the Mama San, who would then tut and shake her head, and we were shown the door. A couple of places seemed interested in Naomi, as she was a 19 year old Swede with piercing blue eyes and long blonde hair. She refused to work without me, so we carried on. We ended up in Snake-eyes, and they offered Naomi a job. The money was amazing, and she said she would take it so that we would at least have one income. The manager there told me I was too old, and that my Tattoo was unacceptable for a hostess. He said I might get work as a waitress at a strip bar called Highlights.

We went to Harvey’s to celebrate, although inside I felt really low. Frank greeted us, and introduced us to a guy at the bar and gave us the wink. It was to be another Champagne fuelled evening, this time ending up in a Love Hotel. There were 15 of us, 9 guys and 6 girls in a room with a hot tub. Phil was there, so I spent the night with him. Frank had given me another £150, and I had been drinking for hours. Naomi and I hadn’t eaten a thing since we had arrived, and had barely slept either, so this was all seeming fairly normal to me. I had no job, and soon would have no place to stay, so I was grateful for anything to take my mind off our situation.

<< part 2