Blood, beatings and the cage: the bouncer
An interview with Thomas, the night security manager at Nagoya's biggest club, iD Cafe
By STEPHEN CARR
Before The Japan Times was invited inside Nagoya's iD Cafe to speak to Thomas, the nightclub's security manager, we stopped to chat to a uniformed policeman near the club. He told us there were as many as 50 fights in a nearby park on Friday and Saturday nights. This busy area of the city, Sakae, known to most residents for its shopping and restaurants during the day, changes dramatically in character late at night.
What first brought you to Japan?
Eighteen years ago I was working as a model in L.A. and Las Vegas when my agency called and said a Japanese lady, in town scouting for dancers, had seen my picture and thought I would be a hit in Japan.
I knew nothing about the country, just that my grandfather had fought in the war there. I thought, "Why not?" signed a contract and flew to Tokyo. I joined a troupe of six male strippers and we toured the country.
What was the job like?
It was pretty rough. We were treated no differently to the female Russian, Romanian, Filipina and Brazilian dancers and hostesses you see in (Tokyo's) Roppongi and (Nagoya's) Nishiki. We had our passports locked away and our movements were restricted.
We'd dance four or five one-hour shows a night. Money was stuffed in our G-strings. We used to strip everything off except for a "tea bag." It was a humiliating job. Once offstage we were told to get in the van and were driven back to the hotel.
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