Sex Work without Sex Citizens without Citizenship Korean

Sex Work without Sex, Citizens without Citizenship: Korean Nightclub Hostesses in Japan Haeng-ja Sachiko Chung Ph. D. in Anthropology Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies Harvard University

Research Question How does Japanese society sustain its economic productivity & (false) image of ethnic homogeneity?

Organization • • Method & Theory Hostess Clubs in Japan Koreans in Japan Hyperrealities lived by Korean Hostesses in Japan • Contributions of My Research to Anthropology & Japanese Studies

Japan & Korea

Research Sites

Method • Participant Observation as a Nightclub Hostess at Korean & Japanese Hostess Clubs in Osaka, Nagoya, & Los Angeles • “Native” Anthropologist – Multiple Identities (e. g. , US citizen, Special Permanent Resident of Japan, Ethnic Korean) – Multiple Categories (e. g. , Japanese-American, Japanese, Korean from S. Korea, & professional hostess)

Hostess Club as Hyperreality (cf. Las Vegas & Disneyland) • While sexuality is commodified, no sex act is allowed at hostess clubs in Japan (Sex Work without Sex). Rather, a club gives a customer the impression that he is in a fantasy world for (pseudo-)romance without risks • Because the money spent at a club becomes a part of the “not real” world, a customer is more apt to spend money (several hundred dollars for a couple of hours). • A hostess (& geisha) are key agents of hyperreality (cf. , Male Prostitute Robot in AI)

Rumsfeld Meets Hyperreality?

Black Leather Notebook (Madam Iwamura) Flower Road of Water Business

Koreans in Japan

Hyperrealities lived by a Korean Hostess with 3 Names: What is the “Real” & What is the Imaginary?

Puja Lee

Tomiko Iwamura

Chihiro Yamamoto

Conclusions The Japanese society maintains its ethnically homogeneous image & economic productivity by making certain groups of people (e. g. , Koreans in Japan & nightclub hostesses) to sustain the hyperrealities (“homogeneous” Japan & fantasy world called “hostess club”) A Korean hostess strategically uses her 3 names & identities in order to maneuver these hyperrealities

Critique to Baudrillard’s Theory of Hyperreality • Tends to focus on consumers (e. g. , visitors of Disneyland Las Vegas, spectators of televised wars). Consequently, de-realize actual struggles, pains, and deaths of those living though the hyperrealities • De-emphasize agency of people

Contribution to Anthropology • The study of performance embedded in daily life (e. g. , ethnic passing & occupational femininity), which receives little attention in cultural anthropology (Rosalind Morris 1995 & Henrietta Moore 1994) • Barth’s notion of “ethnic boundaries” • Turner’s “liminality”

Contribution to Japanese Studies • By applying theoretical framework of “hyperreality, ” my research illuminates the sustaining systems of “homogeneous” Japan and reproduction of heterosexual male labor in Japanese society