Recently, former actress Maya Imamori sparked discussion by revealing in her first YouTube video (published October 8) that she had worked at a lounge for about four months.
Maya Imamori's own video (around 1:19 mark) Open source
According to her explanation, she has already quit the lounge and is currently living off savings from that time. She also denied the existence of a so-called "papa" figure in the video.
Subsequently, she generated further buzz by discussing pregnancy during high school in another YouTube project. Source: coki (October 14, 2026) https://coki.jp/article/column/95256/
However, I won't touch on those details today.
What I want to write about is the question many people likely had: "What exactly is a lounge?"
GIF
---Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Katsu, a "free-to-play style" Minato Ward guy who rents an office with ¥85,000 rent in Roppongi and eats Hanamaru Udon every day.
This time, I'll summarize what I've seen, heard, and experienced over my four years living in Minato Ward.
By the way, I wasn't surprised by this news. That's because I've heard stories of "celebrities working at lounges while doing entertainment jobs" about 800 million times.
What Is a Lounge?
In short, it's a membership-based establishment often found in Nishiazabu and Roppongi, similar to a "casual-dress cabaret club."
Female hosts sit with you and drink, just like in a cabaret club, but the system is quite different.
- Clothing is mostly casual; dresses are generally not required.
- There are no quotas for named bookings or sales, and business LINE messages aren't mandatory.
- Attendance is often flexible (cabaret clubs may have quotas or fines).
- Customers tend to have higher spending per head and are older, often executives or people of status.
Interior of THE ROOM AZABU. Design: MONO-GRAPH / Photo: Nacasa & Partners Open source
Also, lounge hostesses are generally very beautiful. At famous high-end establishments, it becomes like a Tenkaichi Budokai, gathering the most attractive girls from each class across schools nationwide. Some have faces as small as small animals, roughly 10cm wide.
However, interviews are strict, seeking "natural beauty close to unoperated," so many workers have a pure image, announcer-like vibe, or idol-style appearance.
Main areas include Nishiazabu, Roppongi, and Ebisu. It's basically membership-only, requiring an introducer for your first visit.
2026 Edition Lounge Ranking Chart (Chairman K, January 2026). This is the poster's unique classification. Open source
The flow is: enter, get assigned a hostess, drink for one set (time-limited). Then either extend or pay the bill.
If you hit it off, you might go for an after. There are also "painful customers" (like me) who enter around 23:30 hoping for an after.
Regarding prices, based on my experience, top-tier places cost ¥25,000–¥30,000 for an hour with a few drinks served. Mid-tier places can be ¥15,000–¥20,000 if you become friendly.
1800 Anego.
However, if you order tequila bottles or drink heavily in private rooms, bills can reach ¥200,000–¥500,000 per person. Since I always use the free-drink set (F2P formation), I only go when someone else pays.
Why Do Celebrities Work There?
Among lounge hostesses, there are swarms of aspiring celebrities.
I've repeatedly seen relatively famous idols working part-time, and girls affiliated with major agencies aiming to be actresses—I've seen them about 5,200 times. Many do the same as Imamori without publicly stating it.
The reason is simple: you can't make a living solely from entertainment work. Jobs come sporadically, and agency salaries are low. But lounges offer flexible attendance and no quotas, making it easy to balance with main careers.
Post about changing belongings between day and night Open source
(Most agencies probably say "don't work at lounges," though.)
Moreover, customers are often refined executives. The clientele is calmer than in cabaret clubs, and since it's membership-based, it's harder to get exposed.
(But since many entertainment industry people also hang out there, some say they're suddenly asked by their real name instead of stage name. Don't know if true.)
Can You Live Like That After Just 4 Months?
The most common question on X was this. Looking at the room in the video, many asked, "Can you afford that house just from lounge earnings?"
First, lounge hourly wages. If you're extremely cute, it can be tens of thousands per hour. But since you can only work nights, realistic monthly income is probably ¥600,000–¥1,000,000.
Post noting that even high wages require attendance adjustments Open source
Incidentally, if you want to earn more by drinking heavily, cabaret clubs reportedly pay better than lounges. I heard this from multiple girls.
So why do some lounge-working girls live in houses they couldn't afford on hourly wages alone?
---From here on, this isn't about Imamori but general stories heard in Minato Ward---
A common pattern is being taken a liking to by a wealthy man met at the lounge, who then provides housing.
Some super-rich individuals lend properties for free simply because they own many real estate assets, with no sexual relationship involved. On the other hand, some cases involve expected reciprocation or pretending to be a "boyfriend." Stories of giving ¥500,000 or ¥1,000,000 monthly are also frequently heard.
Negotiation image: Irasutoya https://www.irasutoya.com/2014/02/blog-post_1981.html
Conversations like "You're cute. I'll pay ¥XX million/month if you date me (become my mistress)" happen about 1,200 times every night in various lounges. I wish I had such a life.
Also, it's common for these sheltered girls to suddenly claim "I run a business!" In reality, they're just repeating their boyfriend's ventures, or perhaps haven't received even 1% of shares (let alone 33%). They likely think PL means PL Gakuen and BS is a BMI-related term.
Another case involves being told "I'll set up a personal agency for you," getting support from a boyfriend, but later realizing he was skimming most profits, leading to trouble. Years later, having drained their youth, they are discarded—I've witnessed this about 850 million times.
Argument image: Irasutoya
These aspiring celebrity girls usually start YouTube channels.
They open something like "[Name]'s Casual Channel," start solo talk videos, and rely on visual power to reach ~15,000 subscribers. However, editing skills and planning don't keep up, so updates stop after a few videos, or they hand production to weird men and fail, or pivot to game streaming.
Later, hiding their true selves becomes painful, so they adopt a "I'm honest" stance and start confessing everything on SNS unprompted. The cycle ends when friends start saying "Stop...!"
(This pattern works best for those with good looks/acting potential but lazy tendencies: sign contracts early and rely on talented men/companies to handle everything except "just appearing on camera.")
Do All Girls Bow to Money?
Not everyone bows to money.
Many girls say "I hate old men." These girls often cohabit with celebrities, actors, or cool executives.
Customers desperately try to go on afters with them, clutching cash, but unlike cabaret clubs, they don't aggressively solicit, so they just hear "I'm going home normally" and it's over.
Customer complaint about rejected afters. Partial post (April 2026) Open source
Where do they go? To their boyfriend's house, bars where actors/celebs drink, or hobby drinks with hosts/men's underground idols. Those who keep drinking after hours often get frantic calls from boyfriends around 2 AM.
Thus, the top of Minato Ward's food chain might be men who can become drinking buddies without paying.
Why Are They All So Cute?
Lounges have incredibly cute girls. There's a reason.
When looking at Instagrams of cute/influential girls, scout DMs from lounges flood in.
Stores actively select and approach specific girls rather than waiting for applications (though practically, they probably brainlessly send DMs based on posts).
Other routes include referrals from friends working there or street scouting leading to interviews.
Since stores select and only selected girls remain, lounges are full of beautiful women.
Personal post about surprises at Roppongi lounges Open source
How I Reached Lounges
Finally, a bit about me.
When I moved to Minato Ward after earning from YouTube, my first home was in Minami-Aoyama. Rumors said luxury lounges thrived in nearby Nishiazabu, but I didn't know where they were or how to access them.
So I asked staff at standing bars near Nishiazabu intersection (now closed) if any customers went to lounges, or asked YouTuber friends if they knew executives who could take me. Staff looked annoyed, but it was a matter of survival, so I persistently asked.
Eventually, an executive took me to the most famous lounge in Nishiazabu. I exchanged LINEs with the escort staff, started visiting occasionally, befriended hostesses, and got introduced to other lounges/bars, expanding my network.
This was 3-4 years ago. Initially, bills weren't just ¥20,000-30,000; mysterious tequila orders or pointless champagne brought costs to ¥50,000-200,000.
Interior image: THE ROOM AZABU (not the actual store from back then). Open source
After feeling "this isn't right," I now mostly go for "split-the-bill free sets" with groups. Due to budget constraints, I still can't host private room parties like "One Piece" gatherings.
Newer venues like Room or Roots were visited via executives after dinners, but I haven't gone to places like Za Tokyo yet. Would love to go together.
So Executives, Let's Go to Lounges Together.
(Let's strategize at Hanamaru Udon Roppongi branch, then do F2P formations: OK for drinks only, rotating multiple stores with one free set.)
Thank you for reading.
▼ Business Consultations
At OCTOPUS Inc., we handle corporate SNS operations, video marketing, and influencer casting.
If you're thinking "Want to start SNS but don't know where to begin" or "Have an account but it's not growing," please contact us via X DM or [email protected].
