Amerykańska gejsza

by Lea Jacobson

Zafascynowana japońskim językiem i kulturą Amerykanka Lea Jacobson przyjechała do Tokio, by uczyć japońskie dzieci angielskiego. Miała jednak pewne trudności z dostosowaniem się do społeczeństwa o sztywnej strukturze. Gdy została zwolniona z pracy, zatrudniła się jako hostessa w tokijskiej Ginzie. Tu przekształciła się w laleczkę, której zadaniem było schlebianie, flirtowanie i związki z klientami w średnim wieku. Praca hostessy - zajęcie wywodzące się bezpośrednio z tradycji gejszy - szybko okazała się lukratywna i... uzależniająca. Gdy bohaterka popadła w samookaleczanie i alkoholizm, odkryła, że od tego kuszącego stylu życia, który tak pokochała, zdaje się nie być ucieczki.

Błyskotliwe uwagi autorki na temat japońskiej kultury, fascynacji erotycznych, nierówności płci i zanurzenia się w niszczycielski świat zmysłów, tworzą zapadający w pamięć i fascynujący pamiętnik.

Genres: Nonfiction, Japan, Memoir, Travel, Biography Memoir, Asia, Biography

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Lea Jacobson has an M.A. in East Asian studies and a B.A. in English and Japanese. She works as a translator and a language instructor in Tokyo.

Reviews

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have been better fictionalized up a bit.
Synopsis
The naive, spoiled girl moves to Japan loses job as teacher (insight into the cultural differences). Naive, spoiled girl gets job as hostess (fascinating insight into the "floating world"). Naive spoiled girl becomes alcoholic. Spoiled girl gets dog, drops dog back in america with parents. Spoiled girl leaves to get Graduate degree and returns to hostess job in Japan.
By then you are counting the pages till it ends. I know life isn't always exciting but with all the intimations of what MAY have been happening, and the reckless life she glosses over, she shouldn't have pulled punches or should have published it as fiction. I do get tired of people wanting to publish a bit of their life and then lying about it too.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those times I wish this site had half-stars; this one should be a 3 1/2.
Jacobson tells a unique story quite well, so theoretically a 4 star. However, the going got tougher during the book as her character (yes, it's a memoir; I'll explain soon) continued throwing her life away for easy money; near the end of the book I was downright loathing her! There are hints that a crash is coming, but not enough for me.
In the final chapter (or thereabouts), hostessing is labelled "emotional prostitution" - amen! Episode-after-episode of squeezing money out of lonely, dysfunctional rich men made me feel (at least somewhat) sorry for them; the way she used one of them, Hideo, grew downright painful, though he is a big boy and should know the score. In the epilogue, Jacobson admits that she didn't really realize how far out of control her personality had become until after she started writing the book, stating that she came to feel as though she writing (a biography) about another person, instead of a memoir.
I'm recommending the book, in spite of the main character's generally bratty behavior.

[Randee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was immensely entertaining and interesting to me. A couple of years ago, I had read 'American MaleWhore in Tokyo' by John Box who also went to Japan to teach English to Japanese children and ended up becoming a host in a Tokyo club. I have admiration for both Ms. Jacobson and Mr. Box; being a host/hostess by encouraging people to buy you booze and pretending you think they are the most fascinating person you ever met, has got to be one of the world's toughest jobs. I couldn't do it if my life depended on it. I wouldn't do it if my life depended on it. I'm not that good an actor, I am too lazy to be charming when I don't feel it and as the best boss I ever had once told me in a review, "Your worst fault is that you do not suffer fools gladly and you show it. Learn to get that look, and you know what I mean, out of your eyes." I was once married to a master chameleon and no one was more surprised than me (and devastated) when I finally saw his true colors. Japan interests me for all kinds of reasons. Reading about host clubs is the same reason I read about mountain climbing..........I would never do it but I am fascinated, entertained and a bit in awe of those that do.

[Katya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book hot on the heels of 90-Day Geisha and I have to say, I enjoyed it much more, largely because I wasn't constantly inspired to throttle the author. Granted, Lea did her share of complaining, but her story had much more insight into Japanese culture and her own psyche, whereas Chelsea just ranted about how tired she was and how much she hated her customers.

I liked Lea's narrative because she was a real person, with real flaws and issues, and didn't shy away from addressing her issues and her motives. While she isn't the most proficient at verbal acrobatics, I came to like and admire her for facing her dark side in a culture that caters to fantasies and addictions and truimphing over it. I do wish that the book had more details and descriptions of her actual hostessing life and duties - one thing that Chelsea's book excelled at.

Overall I wish more people would write about the floating world and Tokyo's dangerous, glittering, destructive nighttime culture. This story was a fun and intriguing read, and I want to know more.

[Khari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another book that I seriously disliked.

The sheer narcissistic entitled drivel drove me crazy. This writer is pathologically incapable of recognizing her own faults, it's always something external to her forcing her to do things. In the book she is bitter, caustic, judgmental and, frankly, two faced, yet it's not her, it's everyone else, or it's alcohol. No. She is perfect and serene, the things that dirty other people are fine for her.

In one part of the book she is gossiping with another hostess about how terrible this other person is because she gloms onto men and uses them. It's like, hello? You are doing the exact same thing!

The cognitive dissonance that allows her to plant herself firmly on her own higher moral ground is astonishing. The end of the book was talking about how all of the bad things that happened in this book, were bad, the shop lifting, the promiscuity, the rootlessness, they were all bad. But they were alcohol. Not her. Alcohol. She hasn't changed at all. I actually checked her blog, it has the same kind of entitled judgmental poppycock spewing from it.

I hated this book. I do not like it when someone, in real life or in print, is so utterly blind to their own faults and shoves responsibility onto the back of something or someone else. Pick up your own dang problems and carry them, don't bury your head in the sand and pretend that you are perfect and nothing else exists.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacobson offers her readers insights into some of the mysteries surrounding Japan's complicated cultural protocol via her personal experiences as a Tokyo nightclub hostess. I got the impression that Jacobson held back on some of the more intricate details of her personal experiences. But the most obvious explanation for her lack of frankness might have been due to her perpetual state of inebriation during that time in her life. She writes about her many demons, ranging from an eating disorder, to cutting, and by selecting hostessing during that portion of her life, alcoholism.

I appreciated Jacobson's decipherment of the hostess position, which often seems particularly elusive and puzzling to most Americans, from my experience, and found her outline of that specific aspect of the Japanese lifestyle quite enlightening. Having traveled to Japan on several occasions and from my own personal observations, visitors (or maybe more accurately, "the uninitiated") can't help but have their curiosity piqued wondering what's going on behind closed doors, especially after experiencing the late night excitement happening all around in the Roppongi and Ginza areas.

I gave the book five stars because I found the subject matter interesting and the prose conversational. However, if I were rating it on proofreader errors it would have definitely lost a star.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the author's opinions and observations annoyed the hell out of me and a lot of the writing came off repetitive and rushed. In particular, the idea that "modern" and "western" women would find much of the customs of the floating world, and Japan itself, "unbelievable", was lame.
Despite all that, this was a pretty good book. There is a lot of interesting history and modern cultural information. The author comes off self-righteous and spoiled through much of the book, but actually does a pretty good job of telling her story and keeping the reader entertained. Definitely worth reading.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely interesting but I felt like I was getting a sanitized view of the writer and a bit of ego. She was the most popular, never really did anything intentionally wrong though she was blackout drunk most of the time. Just a little holier than thou and a little elitist in judging the Japanese.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I feel like I got taken on a lot of tangents that were not very interesting. There was something annoying about the author both as a person and in her writing style - gratuitous discussions on booze and sex, discussions on her bad decisions/terrible judgement. I've read and hope to still read better books on living in Japan.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Craptastic. A friend bought it, couldn't read it, and passed it along to me. I started it, couldn't read it, and am now passing it along to the Goodwill. Don't even bother with this trite book about trite people.

[Radek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chciałem przeczytać coś o Japonii, ale o innej Japonii niż ta, którą znam z książek o Aikido, samurajach czy zen. Dostałem smutną historię dziewczyny, która wybrała możliwość zarobienia "łatwych pieniędzy". Czy to były łatwe pieniądze, będziecie w stanie ocenić po lekturze tej książki. Wyłania się z niej smutny obraz gry pozorów, oszustwa, udawanej miłości i emocjonalnej pustki, z którą przyszło się mierzyć bohaterom tej opowieści.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was genuinely surprised by this novel, because unlike so many modern and unprofessional American memoirs about life overseas, this story showed the amount of growth and change that the writer experienced during her time abroad. After reading the first 50 pages, I didn't expect this.

"Bar Flower" is a memoir by Lea Jacobson, who moved to Japan right after her high school graduation to immerse herself in a different culture. She is smart and eager to learn the customs of Japan as well as the language. She begins teaching English at an immersion school but soon realizes that the differences in work ethic, gender roles, and respect are too overwhelming and she is fired for basically having a mental illness.

This first section about Jacobson's first months in Japan didn't impress me. She came off as whiny and self-centered, unwilling to accept a culture that she knew was drastically different from American culture. I wouldn't be able to accept the subservience expected of me in Japan, which is why I would have no interest living there. But Jacobson did know, and she still went there, then she scorned it. She was like a spoiled child expecting to change the rule-based Japanese world, and I was already sick of her. Although she was not the typical rude, rambling American tourist (she learned the language and customs), she was a bit ignorant in the beginning.

I was steadily wary of Jacobson as she hunted around for jobs here and there, overqualified for many of them. With a history of self-harm, eating disorders, and an addictive personality Jacobson knowingly got involved in the last job she should've had- a bar hostess (somewhat like a modern-day geisha). She got paid to drink, flatter older Japanese businessmen, look pretty, and stand as decoration.

Jacobson ends up thriving at the job, learning the ins and outs and becoming the Mama's favorite. But as she spirals deeper and deeper into alcohol, rich "dohans" (regular patrons who receive special treatment), and bad decisions, Jacobson realizes that she cannot continue like this forever.

I started to sympathize more with Jacobson towards the end of the novel, especially after she returns to America. She misses many things about Japan and as the reader we have come to realize is that she has two homes now and she doesn't hold the same attitudes about Japan that she once held.

Although this is not a feminist novel, Jacobson's views on men are interesting. She doesn't find the subservience and vapidness of being a hostess any more displeasing than having a clingy boyfriend or rude customer (Japanese or American)- she seems to hold an all-encompassing contempt for men because she realizes that each culture has different ways of patriarchy but none of them give her the benefit of the doubt (for example, she feels safer in Japan but she also has to be more subservient to Japanese men than American men). She also reveals she feels greater kinship towards women, having bisexual encounters and always latching onto older, smarter women who she longs to please. She wasn't hostessing for the men- she was hostessing because she, like many other women, just needed to make a living.

This does not come without problems. At some points, this book made it seem like Jacobson was just "trying Japan out" in a way, even though she still lives in Japan. She had a lot of hardships, but it was hard to feel bad for her, because she could leave at any point. She was a white American girl in a Japanese bar- she wasn't like the Japanese, Fillipina, Russian, and Romanian women in the bars who had children and families to take care of. No matter how much Jacobson learned, I had to take it with a grain of salt. She had a lot of wiggle room.

This isn't a glowing, fabulous memoir and I don't think Jacobson is a naturally excellent writer. But it was an honest story and a story worth telling.

[L. W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

WELL. The title says it all, doesn't it? I had heard of Host Clubs, but didn't have a clue what they were.

I am a Japanophile, which means I couldn't resist picking this up even if it might be some lewd insight into a dark side of Japan.

Surprise. It isn't lewd. It's almost an art form of the 20th/21st century. You need a little ego boosting? You want to feel better by surrounding yourself with beautiful party girls to persue? Host Club is where it's at. You touch the girl? You get thrown out. You may fall in love, but it must remain ethereal and controlled by the club. Yes, you can choose a Daijo to take care of you, but that is up to you, and the club gets a cut. It works the same for female clubs for men, or male clubs women.

The idea of Host Club is simple, to quote the book: "The customer is the perpetual hunter, and the hostess his perpetual prey." "The meaning was in the process of unraveling the woman herself, not in the end product, which was presumably sex. Real sex was not in anyone's interest, since its piercing reality would inevitably spoil the fantasy."

I can't help but say I enjoyed Lea Jacobson's insight into something I never would have thought twice about, whether I ended up respecting her in the end or not. Respect for these people and their chosen lifestyles, which often result in alcoholism, is irrelevant; this books speaks of a fascinating phenomenon of Japanese culture.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Japanese hostess bars and their hostesses where brought to my attention back in 2005. This was during the days of a blog site called Vox. I followed a blog by a young woman, half-Japanese, half-American, who lived and worked in Tokyo as a hostess.

This book told me a lot of what I wanted to know about that world, that I hadn't already gleaned from that blog.

Yes, the story is very well-written, more so than another book on the subject that I won't name since it's totally 90 Days of crap. Ms. Jacobson lays out the harsh truths of her life so frankly it can make you squirm. It provides details about Japan and the Japanese you probably didn't know. It does all that and more.

For me one of the best parts of this book, was the strong friendship between the author and "Jade", another hostess, and coincidentally the writer of that blog I followed. A real friendship born from mutually disastrous lives.

Maybe part of the appeal of this book for me, was the same thing that causes people to stop and look at a car wreck. That may have been an initial reasoning, but at the end I was cheering for Ms. Jacobson and wishing I was half as strong as she was, and had one friend in life as frank, caring and accepting as Jade.

[doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lea Jacobson's memoir is not only an eye-opening account of the Japanese hostess industry, but also a very human view of someone trying to figure herself out, finding out what sort of person she wants to be. The subject is interesting, and it was a quick and engrossing read for me, being interested in Japanese culture as well as the "floating world" Jacobson finds herself in, though not wishing for myself to be caught up in it.

It's an interesting read, and Jacobson's comparisons to women in these hostess clubs being akin to ikebana flower arrangements sounds spot-on. I would have liked to have learnt more about her transition from hostessing to her occupation listed in the book jacket, but still, a good read.

[Mindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Non-fiction. A girl becomes a hostess in a Japanese nightclub. Really helped my Japanese but if you're not interested in reformed aneroxics, cutters and alcoholics who use men, then this book is not for you.

[Book Soup · Rating 1 out of 5]

Americans that become nippophiles and embed themselves in Japanese culture as if they could even qualify as being on the same level as someone from Japan. This is an insult to the culture that they're trying to compliment.

--Tyson

[William Mallory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the cover says, we the reader watch this woman spiral down into an alcoholic whirlpool of her own making while having the best and worst time of her life doing it. The peek behind the curtain into the lives, and motivations of the women who work as hostesses is revealing if only because we find out, not surprisingly, that they end up hating all their clients, thinking of them as fools and overgrown children and walking ATM's who exist only to give up their money to women who, in literally any other social situation outside of a hostess bar, would be revolted to be in the same room with them. Our author / narrator is a mercurial, self-destructive, often angry woman who will in turns either loudly proclaim her own independence and feminist ideals or when she realizes that no one in Japan gives a crap about what she thinks will flip to become a self-loathing ornament for male ego-stroking. And will, let us not forget, get paid handsomely for debasing herself. This is a book showing a few years in the life of an obsessive woman as she circles the drain toward rock-bottom, and who takes the reader along for the ride. Enjoy.

[Gdybym-wiedziała · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tytuł może mylić, „Amerykańska gejsza” Lei Jacobson to nie opowieść o delikatnej sztuce japońskich gejsz, lecz o czymś znacznie bardziej surowym i cielesnym. Autorka i jednocześnie bohaterka, pracuje jako hostessa w tokijskich klubach, gdzie głównym zadaniem jest uwodzenie klientów w grze bez dotyku, lecz pełnej napięcia. Chodzi o sprzedaż iluzji bliskości.

Choć profesja i realia są nietypowe, nie w tym tkwi siła tej książki. Lea to dziewczyna zagubiona, wewnętrznie rozdarta, nieidealna, a przez to bardzo prawdziwa. Jej historia to raczej opowieść o kobiecej samotności, pragnieniu miłości, upadkach i próbach odnalezienia siebie w obcym świecie.

Jacobson kreśli także socjologiczny portret Japonii, ukazując jej rytuały, chłód i milczące kody zachowań widziane oczami kobiety wychowanej w amerykańskiej kulturze otwartości. Dla europejskiego czytelnika ta konfrontacja może być równie fascynująca co dla niej samej.

Pomimo nieadekwatnego tytułu, książka wciąga swoją autentycznością. Jest mroczna, szczera, bez upiększeń, ale i bez moralizowania. Opowiada nie o gejszy, lecz o kobiecie i to wystarcza.

[Blondiemem · Rating 4 out of 5]

To understand the job of American Lea Jacobson as a Tokyo bar hostess, the Ukiyo concept is crucial.
“Living only for the moment, savoring the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, loving sake, women and poetry, letting oneself drift, buoyant and carefree, like a gourd, floating along the river current” Kyoi Asai, Tales of the Floating World
The “floating world” is entertainment after long work hours, in which it’s culturally acceptable for salarymen to seek alcohol (lots!) and company of bar hostesses sing karaoke and let loose: within the rules. Ginza night club life is a reprieve from the daily grind for the modern male, but involves complicated relationships that aren’t sexual. Lea takes us behind the scenes, learns more of subtle cultural norms and develops alcoholism. This peek into early 2000’s lifestyle of gaijin is not the seedy or violent tale I expected, but a cultural primer in many things Japanese.

“It is far easier to be a good friend while walking down a mountain than it is to be supportive on the way up. Lea Jacobson

[Kiana Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost DNF'd this one so many times... its one strong point is that the author does have really excellent and interesting knowledge of Japan. But that's about it. The narration feels self-aggrandizing in nearly all moments, and the book alternates between self-congratulatory paragraphs about shoplifting, excessive drinking, and treating people poorly and a type of academic essay writing that feels like it was included just to show how knowledgeable the author is, with little transition between the two. Some of the definitions are thrown in seemingly randomly- like explaining what asthma is, for example. And to top it off, the last several chapters were just absolutely tone-deaf as she complains about her free Master's degree, thanks to her mom being employed at a private university. Too many cringe moments to count in this one.

[Pink · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fost o carte plăcută, ușor de citit aș putea spune. Cuvintele în japoneză au făcut unele propoziții mai greu de înțeles, dar în rest am fost captivată de toate acele lucruri mai puțin cunoscute despre Japonia. Lea nu a dus deloc o viață ușoară. Problema ei cu alcool-ul și meseria ca hostessă schimbând-o ca persoană, aducându-i mici bucurii materiale, dar și consecințe grave în cele din urmă. Cu toate acestea, m-am bucurat când a decis să pună stop și a început să facă schimbări în viața ei.
Cred că toți ar trebui să fim atenți la lucrurile care dăunează stilului nostru de viață și să încercăm să schimbăm ceva, astfel încât să nu regretăm pe viitor.

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars at best. It’s like a sanitized version of her story that she wrote knowing her family was going to read it so she cleaned it up a bit. Also she talks about how much money these men throw around and yet she never talks about how much money she made or what she did with it. Don’t you think that should be part of the story?
I also didn’t like the end. Like, what happened between the time you stopped working and when you wrote the book? It ends at a turning point in her life but you don’t know which way she went (pre book).
Bottom line, not as scandalizing as you think it would be.

[Filip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miejscami nie jest to najlepiej napisane (w polskim tłumaczeniu zdarzają się nawet błędy ortograficzne xd), a bohaterka (i zarazem autorka), nie jest najlepszą osobą moralnie. Opisane przez nią wspomnienia budzą przez jakiś czas współczucie, ale w pewnym momencie jej interakcji tak do klientów, jak i współpracowniczek, nie da się ciągle bronić jej problemami psychicznymi. Mimo wszystko jest to ciekawy wgląd w świat nocnego Tokio i patriarchalnego społeczeństwa Japonii, a przede wszystkim historia o radzeniu sobie z uzależnieniami.

[Roxana Amir · Rating 1 out of 5]

O tâmpenie de carte. Și nu credeam că voi spune vreodată așa ceva despre o carte. Am încercat să ii tot dau șanse pe parcursul lecturii, dar chiar nu o mai pot continua. Povestea unei femei obsedată de droguri si băutură care lucrează ca și dama de companie și habar nu are pe ce lume este, unde se culcă și unde se scoală.... Eu așa ceva nu mai pot citi. Vorba proverbului "Too many books too little time". Nu mai am timp de pierdut cu cartea asta.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

o privire indiscreta si relevanta asupea vietii de noapte japoneze, prin prisma unei femei care lucreaza ca hostessa intr-unum din barurile de noapte din Tokyo.
Dar cartea este mult mai ibteresanta, pentru ca este o relatare onesta, reala despre cultura japoneza, despre modul in care este vazut sexul, despre femei si despre japonia.
nu se vrea a fi un roman cult sau intelectual, ci unul real, despre viata intr-o alta cultura

[Frank Weeden · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay... It felt a little dishonest, or as though the author really hadn't grown much and was trying too hard to save face. The most dishonest thing, was the difference between what was written in the flyleaf versus what the actual memoir/fiction/tale was actually about. I don't know... The whole thing kinda' left me flat.

[Gary Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much bad language for me &n Ms Jacobson seemed to live a destructive & wasteful life for several yrs but (1) she kept interested despite the language, and (2) she apparently finally realized something better to do with her life.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn’t enjoy this book because it was too hard to like the main character. I’m glad that she got through it and figured things out for herself, but this was definitely not an enjoyable read…. It felt more like a chore for the sake of understanding.

[patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Total beach read with some Japanese slang thrown in for good measure.