Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
How things play out in Southern CA are different than almost anywhere else in the world.
To be clear, snack bars are not populated with "scantily clad" women. Generally snack hostesses wear colorful versions of business type wear (skirts with blouses and jackets).
Also to be clear, snack hostesses do not traditionally sleep with their clients. It's a bar, not a whorehouse.
Why would you say that? When I worked at a high school I went with colleagues to snack bars all the time (often with female teachers). No one went there to have sex, we went there to have good service and conversation.
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I think there was a misunderstanding. I didn't mean to suggest that they are about sex. I suspect that it does happen, but that would be the exception to the rule. As far as scantily clad women go... I should be clear by stating that it definitely depends on the place (no nudity unless you go to a place for that, but that's not what we're talking about). I've been to a ton of snack bars, so I'm talking about my experience. I know there are some where the women wear more conservative style clothing and some where that is definitely not the case. I'm not just talking about one single experience, I've been to many places in multiple prefectures.
I didn't mean to imply that people go to those places to have sex. I think that by and large though, people go there to get good service and have conversation with
pretty women (the last part being the key word). The woman doesn't have to be young or anything either. While some women don't mind going there, I know for sure that a lot are uncomfortable with it and just kind of go out of obligation (to the boss, friends, not to go against the grain, or whatever). And while I'm pretty sure those places have a strict policy of no touching etc that rule can and does get broken at some places for sure (because I've seen it and heard of it at multiple places).
Not to make them seem horrible. I personally like them a lot depending on the situation. I used to go a lot to one in particular because it was really cheap. It's like Go Native said, you have a bit to drink, sing some karaoke, and just kinda joke around with people. The place I used to love had all you can drink and all you can sing for a very reasonable price (Cheaper than going to a karaoke place!).
As far as the technical term for what I'm talking about goes, there's not really a line drawn around here as far as I can tell. They're all called snack bars and that's for certain. Maybe that could be a regional thing? I have no idea, but around here "snack" implies every one of the things we're talking about. In one room you might have a bar and kind of a lounge-esque area. Some of them might just have a bar. In fact, I've heard some of the crazier stories from the ones that are just "bars" (without the loungey area... ie a smaller place).
As far as a "traditional" bar (from the American point of view goes) there are a few of those in my town as well. Those are not called snacks by any means by the people here.
I'll make it clear though, I don't want to argue the difference between a snack and a hostess club. I'm not familiar with the English phrases and all that anyways. As far as the Japanese around here goes, they call what I (and you guys) have been describing a "
snack". Granted there are many variations of a snack, the people here call all of them a snack (not to be confused with a simple bar, which isn't called a snack at least around here).
As far as "food" goes, most of the ones I've been to will bring out a bowl of... snacks (like the Japanese version of a chex mix and some chocolates and stuff). I've only been to a few where they served like cooked food (nothing to get full off of).
At any rate, I wanted to share this link with you guys. The title is "Views on marriage in Japan". (it's a translated survey with a bit of commentary).
Views on marriage in Japan | 世論 What Japan Thinks
Edit: I will look into this for sure. Judging by what you guys are saying makes me think that there could be a regional language thing going on here. I'm 100% sure of what I'm talking about and I haven't known you guys to be wrong about what you talk about.