Toyko Hostess

Gradually I became embroiled in a drama that I created through my various customers and the other girls. The world of the club was both safe and thrilling. It was addictive. The better I became at my job, however, the more I lost touch with myself, and while my sham 'loves' with my customers deepened into something like real affection and compassion, the 'real' relationship in my life floundered.

I didn't do it solely for the money .I wish I had. I did it for reasons far more dangerous: I needed adoration and approval and I, like so many victims of typically arid American upbringings, was addicted to the rush of adrenaline that love and praise, however insincere and deluded, can bring. After a few slow months in Japan's floating world, real life was, for a while, too slow for me.

From Tokyo Hostess, Claire Campbell