It's not That kind of snack...

I love learning new things about Japan everyday. Some things are strange (the weight-loss supplement called "Jesus Body"?!) and others are just plain funny (cream for your chest called Booby Master).

Here is something random I learned this week: Cash's Yochien is located behind a few buildings down an old street. At the corner where I wait to pick him up, there is a sign that says, "SNACK"--and I have often thought, "Hmmm...what kind of snacks?"
**Note: This sign is attached to a building that has no windows, almost exactly like the above picture**

A few days later, one of my students was recommending a gyoza restaurant and told me where it was--but said, "At night, it's dangerous! SNACKS!!!"

Haha...so we talked some more about "snacks". Snacks are "snack bars"--the Japanese name for host/hostess clubs, where you can go to a bar and be entertained by a hostess who will then charge you a super high price for entertaining you. There are host clubs, too, but not in the smaller cities. Some snack bars are very clean and professional--but I guess the ones in our area are quite gaudy. The hostesses stand outside in tight, bright clothes yelling to businessman and the elderly (yep) to try to lure them in.

You can read more about them and see some pictures here and here--and in that last article, I love how it says, "You can tell it's a snack bar, because it doesn't have any windows!" Very very true.

I'm just glad I didn't take Cash in for a "snack" after school :)