She Says She Almost Got Kidnapped And Sold Into Indentured Slavery While On A Date
TikToker Abi (@abikuru) is talking about a bad date she went on and issuing a warning about the dangers of host clubs in Japan.
“So I live in Japan, and one time on a date, I almost got kidnapped and sold into indentured slavery,” she said.
In 2018, she matched with an extremely handsome guy on Japanese Tinder who she called Ren. They had been chatting for a bit when Ren revealed that he was a host, which is someone who caters to people at a certain type of nightclub.
At the time, she was 20-years-old and knew nothing about Japanese hosts or host clubs. Later, she found out it was common for Japanese hosts to use Tinder as a marketing scheme. They would swipe right on everyone and see who they could get to match with them. This was how they got their clientele.
Anyway, Ren asked her if she could meet up with him on a Saturday that was two months away. Of course, she agreed. In Japan, it was normal to schedule an outing with your friends weeks in advance because everyone was always so busy. So, Ren’s request didn’t really alarm her at all.
Two months passed, and Abi had completely forgotten about Ren since they hadn’t talked at all during that time. On the day of their date, she was fully dressed and ready to go out to dinner with a friend from college. But her friend canceled, saying she had fallen ill and couldn’t go.
As if on cue, Ren texted her at that exact moment, asking if their date was still on. They met up in Shinjuku City at 7 PM, and he took her to a fast food chain restaurant, which wasn’t where she had been expecting to go for their first date.
While they were chatting, she mentioned that she was surprised he wasn’t working because she assumed that weekends were the busiest nights for hosts.
He informed her that he did have to work that night and that his shift started at 7:30. In fact, the club he worked at was right next door. After glancing at the clock, she saw that it was 7:29.
SeanPavonePhoto – stock.adobe.com- illustrative purposes only
Ren started acting distressed, rubbing his eyes and groaning about the punishment fee he would be hit with for being late to work.
He explained that the club had a rule stating that $300 would be deducted from your paycheck if you were late to work. Abi was confused and began to grow a little suspicious of him.
Then, Ren suggested that she accompany him to the club because they would consider it as him being with a customer, and the fee would be waived.
Abi thanked him for the invitation but told him that she would rather stay at the restaurant. He went on about how fun the club was and that she would be doing him a huge favor.
He even offered to pay for the first hour she spent at the club, which would only cost $30 versus the $300 he would’ve had to pay otherwise.
Being a major people pleaser, she agreed to spend a few minutes at the club. Ren became ecstatic, jumping out of his seat and rushing to call his boss to tell him she would be coming.
He went upstairs and locked himself in the bathroom before making the phone call. Abi felt incredibly uncomfortable about what was happening, so she texted her Japanese friend about the situation.
Immediately, her friend told her to run. At that moment, Abi heard the bathroom door open and Ren’s footsteps coming back down the stairs. She grabbed her jacket and scarf and tried to yank her umbrella out from underneath the table.
However, the umbrella was stuck, so she ditched it and ran out of the restaurant into the pouring rain. She jogged down the street, circled a couple of alleyways to shake Ren off her trail, and blocked his phone number. Then, she ducked into a clothing store and hid for about thirty minutes.
Later, when Abi got the opportunity to talk to her Japanese friend, she explained that a lot of host clubs were owned by the yakuza. Some places would bring girls in, get them intoxicated, and rack up their bills.
When the girls woke up, they were faced with a bill they had no way of paying. As a result, they would be forced to work for the yakuza.
“So many influencers and animes talk about host clubs like they’re this cool, fun, quirky Japan thing, but in reality, they can be so dangerous. So, watch out for all the Rens out there and maybe take going to a host club off your Japan bucket list,” concluded Abi.
@abikuru Ever heard of Japanese “host clubs”? Youre gonna wanna hear this one. I’m here to burst your Ouran High School Host Club bubble. #japan #japaneseculture #tinder #dating #traveltips #japantiktok #truestory #storytime
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