- Apr 20

Plus Size Girls Bars in Japan

If you’re into Japanese nightlife, or just curious about what the country has to offer, chances are you’ve come across the term Girls Bar, Hostess Bars and Host Clubs. There are thousands of these types of bars in Japan, from big cities to small towns.

Jump to the bottom of this page to see the list of plus size Girls Bars you can visit in Japan

What is a ‘Girls Bar’?

A Girls Bar is a type of establishment where customers pay to socialize with female staff members one-on-one. Employees drink and chat with their customers, play games and form a friendly relationship. The girls will often communicate with customers outside of work hours via blogs and LINE - they work to maintain these “friendships” full-time in order to entice their customers to continue visiting the bar.

Many Girls Bars have a ranking system; the more popular a girl is (how often she is requested and nominated) the higher her rates are. Top-ranked girls can receive a better salary, schedule and other perks as they are the ones bringing in the most business.

These bars are distinct from typical bars in that people frequent them for the feeling of companionship, rather than just the drinks. The drinks are often far more expensive than your typical bar - customers can easily spend thousands in one night. This is because, ultimately, you’re not paying for just the drinks - you’re paying for the time spent with your hostess of choice. In addition to the higher drinks fee, there are other fees that come along with going to a Girls Bar such as a companionship ship (for a woman to sit with you), time fee (depending on how long and what time of night), and service charges (15%-20%).

Many customers frequent the same bar repeatedly, building a bond with one or more employees.

Maid Cafes, in a sense, are closely related to what a Girls Bar offers - women to observe and interact with, for a fee. Locals don’t typically go to a Maid Cafe for the (overpriced) kawaii parfaits, they go for the Maids.

In most regular establishments, touching the girls is prohibited. Customers need to be respectful of the girls, though what is tolerated varies.

The employees need to maintain a balance of friendly and attentive, appearing interested in a customer. The goal is to make someone feel wanted, whether that’s making them feel like they could have a chance to date a girl (or hookup with her), or just providing friendship.

It’s not always about the faux relationship though. It’s pretty common for a group of friends to visit Girls Bars together just for the novelty, or for the female attention while they laugh and drink together.

Visiting Girls Bars is a common activity and isn’t seen as taboo. People go alone, with friends, even with colleagues or their boss. It’s a mainstay in the Japanese nightlife and can be a lot of fun if you can afford it.

Specialty Girls Bars

A lot of Girls Bars have a concept or theme. There are bars for every niche and attraction - from muscle bars, shy girls with glasses, cosplay bars, tall girls, older women, women with tattoos and piercings - whatever your preference, you can probably find a Girls Bar for it. So naturally, Plus Size Girls Bars, or “Pocha” Girls Bars exist (pocha is the term shortened from Pochari, which means chubby or overweight).

A Pocha Girls Bar functions similarly to any other Girls Bar; you pay to spend time with a woman (or women) and buy her drinks. However, in most Pocha Girls Bars, there is a weight minimum for employees. Some bars hire a wider range of plus size women (70 kg and up), while others have a 100 kg minimum.

The average weight of Japanese women, as of 2019, is about 59kg. Pocha Bar employees, in general, weigh 20-40kg more than the average population. Some of the most popular Japanese Pocha Bar hostesses weigh more than 150kg, almost 100 kg more than the average Japanese woman. The hostesses usually wear very revealing clothing - lower-cut tops, shorter dresses, and tighter silhouettes than what’s typically seen in plus size fashion.

Who visits Pocha Girls Bars?

Whether you categorize it as a fetish or just an attraction, the primary audience for these bars are men who like larger women. Some clients are attracted to larger women in general, while others are primarily attracted to women with very large bra sizes, no matter the woman's other physical attributes.

A lot of people who visit Girls Bars are people that want to spend time with women they may otherwise not get the chance to talk to. Meeting new people and maintaining friendships/relationships takes time and effort, and some people don’t have the mental energy, social skills or physical time. Going to a Girls Bar, where the women are the ones who prompt conversations and give you undivided attention with little/no effort on your end is appealing to people. Instead of time/effort, you pay money, and for some that fulfills their need for socializing and alleviating loneliness.

Being plus size is a minority in Japan, as is having a large bra size. For people who are physically attracted to plus size women, this gives them an opportunity they may not have otherwise had to interact.

And, like other themed Girls Bars, some people go for the novelty. These people aren’t necessarily attracted to plus size women or any of their attributes, rather, they’re just curious to see what it’s about and want to have fun.

Are Girls Bars Problematic?

One could argue that Girls Bars, in general, are problematic and promote shallow social relationships for a fee, as well as for objectifying women. There are issues of safety, harassment, and boundaries. With such high prices, patrons expect the highest levels of service and undivided attention. Some may even feel entitled to an employee’s time and attention outside of work hours if they visit the bar often enough. You could also argue that these bars provide an important social service, alleviating loneliness and reducing mental stress.

The particular issue with Plus Size Girls Bars comes from the weight expectation, and in some establishments, the expectation to eat large quantities of unhealthy food. Along with ordering drinks for employees, many Pocha Girls Bars encourage patrons to order food for the women - and it is the expectation that she will eat a huge portion or multiple dishes. Throughout a week employees can consume thousands of extra calories.

Employees are encouraged not to lose weight and can be fired from their jobs if they don’t meet the weight minimum. Some employees do maintain their weight, but it’s more common (and sometimes expected) for employees to gain weight while they are employed.

Outside of the bar, employees build relationships and gain new followers by frequently posting on social media. If an employee is popular enough or has good relationships with people online, they can receive many gifts. On their social media profiles, you will often find links to Amazon wishlists or similar, where a fan can send their favorite girl gifts of her choosing. If they have a good relationship with an employee and visit her workplace frequently, they may also send her gifts not on her wishlist in hopes of gaining her favor.

On these wishlists, you’ll generally see regular things like clothing, makeup and accessories. However, for this niche, you will also see a lot of food and snacks. It’s common for patrons of Plus Size Girls Bars to send food as gifts, with the expectation that she will consume it either at the bar, or post photos/videos of herself eating on her social media.

Many girls who have a strong social media presence have fans from across the country. Some followers may have never actually been to her workplace or met her in person.

With frequent gifts of food, as well as the expectation to eat in the bar, on top of drinking copious amounts of alcohol regularly, Plus Size Girls Bars employees face a unique issue; weight gain and health issues related to weight. But it’s not just an accepted side-effect of the job; it’s a selling point. Much like fetish content hosted on adult sites related to weight gain, the larger an employee gets, the more popular she can become. The more popular she is, the more she is nominated and moves up the ranks - and the more money she earns. The incentive is there for employees to either passively or purposely gain weight. Should You Visit a Girls Bar?

Girls Bars in general are notorious for turning away foreigners or people who do not speak Japanese because there are rules and customs in these bars that they are unable to communicate. It’s also difficult for the employees, as their job is to entertain you with conversation. That’s a little hard to do with a language barrier. Some employees are willing to communicate via translation apps, and some may speak languages other than Japanese, but it’s not common.

If you do decide to go for the experience, expect a high bill. Try to become familiar with how Girls Bars work; no touching, paying for her drinks, paying for the amount of time, table charges, and any other fees a bar may have. It’s not a scam, they aren’t targeting foreigners or taking advantage of you - these are the regular fees for all patron’s. If you do not understand a bar's charge system (often explained verbally, as well as written somewhere for you to read in Japanese) you cannot dispute the bill after racking it up. The responsibility is on you to know how it works and to be able to pay for it if you stay.

If you’re not up for shelling out hundreds of dollars for the experience, you can find many employees on X (formerly Twitter) and join their fandoms for free.

Plus Size Girls Bars You Can Visit In Japan

Like we mentioned above, Japanese is the primary language used in Girls Bars, and if you are not a Japanese speaker you may be turned away. If you are able to enter, be aware that staff may only speak Japanese, and all signage, menus and charge system explanations will be in Japanese. On each bars website you can find charge system information, just use a translation application so you can understand it.