Tokyo Hostess

In summer 2000, Lucie Blackman arrived in Tokyo to work as a nightclub hostess. Pretty, blonde, 21 years old, Lucie was a prized 'gaijin girl' (Western girl) whose job it was to serve drinks to Japanese businessmen, light their cigarettes, flirt. Lucie thought the job would be fun and glamorous; a great way of earning a lot of money quickly. But she did not know that behind the lights and excitement of Tokyo's nightclub scene lies a terrible darkness. Many beautiful Western girls have found themselves lured into performing sexual acts for money, seeing their job slowly change from nightclub hostess into that of high-class prostitute. Although Lucie never took this path, her glamorous adventure ended even more tragically - businessman Joji Obara was convicted of dismembering and abandoning her body. In this groundbreaking, authoritative account of Lucie's life and death, Clare Campbell lifts the lid on the often horrifyingly sleazy world of Tokyo nightclubs.