Emily Chan
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.
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