Sophia C. reviewed on 1/28/2011 + 289 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Borne of a doctoral dissertation in anthropology, Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo Hostess Club is an academic exploration of a specific cultural phenomenon: what's behind the practice of male white-collar Japanese workers going out drinking after work at hostess clubs at company expense? Although often explained as a "Japanese" ritual where men can shed workplace tensions and bond in a relaxed social setting, the author does not accept such an essentialist explanation. In addition to conducting interviews, surveys, and conferring with other academics, Anne Allison also worked at one club, Bijo, for several months, sitting with men as she poured drinks, lit cigarettes, and smoothed over the conversation which was often sexual, flirtatious, and served to flatter the male patrons. She explores the activities which take place at these clubs, their functions, and how they create identities surrounding work, play, sex, and gender relations. However, one should keep in mind that the work was done in the early 1980s, before the economic collapse, so it might not reflect contemporary Japan. At times Allison blurs the distinction between specifically talking about people who participate in this phenomenon (the male patrons and the female hostesses) and generalizing it to all Japanese. Not all Japanese men are sarariimen.There are also long sections where she cites only one or two sources. Nonetheless, this is an accessible study of a specific social practice, nothing more, nothing less.

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