Reuters

Tokyo, Jun 29: Dressed all in white and smiling, Yuka and Manato stand side-by-side before a pyramid of champagne glasses, framed in an arch of white, pink and red balloons.

"I really love Manato," Yuka said, while a score of black-suited young men kneel before them, chanting loudly. "I'll never forget this day," he added.

The scene in the dark, smoky nightclub seems modelled on a wedding, but no nuptials are under way. Instead, Yuka is paying around $8,700 for the champagne the pair pour into the tower of glasses to mark Manato's 25 birthday at Club Raphael, a "host club" where women are pampered by the men of their dreams -- for a price.

Around 150 such host clubs dot the streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district, ranging from small ones like Club Raphael to the famed Ladies' Club Ai a few blocks away, where more than 170 gigolos are employed to ply their trade in a glitzy night spot complete with dance floor and band.

What a celebration: Manato celebrating his birthday with his regular patron Yuka at a nightclub (Pic: Reuters)

"Hosts say things that ordinary guys are too embarrassed to say. They are sweet-talk professionals," Yuka said, fingering the beads adorning her dyed-brown hair.

"This place isn't real. It's like Neverland," she added.

Host clubs have been around for decades, but in recent years have become the focus of a media blitz that has made them seem more mainstream, if not necessarily respectable.

The TV drama Yaoh, King of the Night, based on a popular manga comic, was a big hit with viewers before its tale of a host dedicated to "making every woman happy" ended in March.

Top-ranking hosts have turned TV celebrities, and Internet sites and magazines devoted to the topic provide a plethora of information for would-be hosts and nervous novice clients.

"It used to be that women were afraid of getting caught going to a host club, so they went in the back way. Not anymore," Takashi Aida, who founded Club Ai in 1971 and now owns five nightclubs in Kabukicho said.

"Now everyone comes in the front," Aida added, flashing four diamond rings, a diamond-studded watch and a diamond tie clip.

For hosts like Manato, who worked a string of low-paid jobs before turning gigolo, the attraction of the job is clear. "I'm not very bright, so this is the only way I can make a lot of money," Manato said, his dyed-brown hair pulled up in a partial top-knot and wearing a subtle smidgen of lipstick.

Popular hosts at Club Raphael can average around $25,000 a month, while stars at Club Ai rake in as much as $45,000 -- almost entirely from commissions on the liquor they persuade their female customers to buy, managers at the clubs said.