Disappointing times for Heartland women
Leo Lewis of the Times has examined the impact of the financial crisis on Japanese women who hang out at a bar in Roppongi Hills hoping to meet rich foreign bankers:
In its prime, the 54 storeys of the Roppongi Hills office tower were a focal point for much that was positive about Japan: it was the spiritual home of Japan’s kachigumi – society’s “winners”. By 9.50pm, back at Heartland, two foreign men in suits have finally made a move. Haruna and Etsuko clutch new vodka tonics, but are sipping quickly: the suits worn by the men who bought the drinks don’t fit right and the ties are domestic, they could even be polyester. The would-be wooers stumble on the question of what it is they actually do “in banking” and are quickly sized up as frauds, or possibly IT consultants.
The girls make excuses and head to the station for the hour-long ride back to Kawasaki: they understand economics enough to know that they will probably never find the banker ready to induct them to the “Hills Tribe” of well-dressed women living and shopping around Roppongi Hills.
“I think Heartland and the stock markets are the same thing,” says Masabuchi, drawing a downward spiral in the air, “so it is not surprising that the bar has had a kind of ‘shock’ of its own. Bankers have always gone to certain bars in Japan, but the ones around Roppongi Hills are different – they became part of Japanese culture as much as expat culture.”
A true shame for shallow money-obsessed women.
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My heart bleeds.
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Pity.
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And somewhere in the distance, you can hear the mournful sounds of the world’s smallest violin.
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I went to that place once while waiting to see Spiderman 2 during the 3 a.m. special showing at the Virgin Theaters nearby. I happened to be in a suit because I’d gone there after an interview for a job (definitely not a banking job). I was practically mobbed by 30-year-old Japanese women looking to start up a conversation, but you could read this creepy sort of gaijin-obsession in their expressions. All I wanted was a (Pepsi?) Heartland beer and a place to chill out before watching some Spiderman.
However, it was a much better atmosphere than most of the other places in Roppongi (or the whole greater Tokyo area, for that).
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No dis-respect intended but I hardly see 30 year old women there. They are mostly late 30’s looking to date a white man.
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Being only 26 now, at the time I was in my early 20s, so maybe I attract a different crowd? It was pretty packed the one and only time I went. I can’t say whether or not the conditions were normal.
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I went there once, and didnt last too long.
Too many girls looking for foreigner boyfriends made the palce seem sleazy.
… and there were too many foreigners.
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I never felt an urge to go to such places.
Also I don’t think I’d ever want to socialize with such shallow and money/foreigner-obsessed women.
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I like that place because you can stroll in and leave 10 minutes later with a woman, whether you’re a banker or not, just by pretending to be one.
The fact that the ladies there are shallow and superficial makes me feel much less guilty when I’m sneaking out of the love hotel at five in the morning!
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money hungry!
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only been there a few times but the first time i went there i definitely spotted a pair of gold diggers on the prowl. personally i think it would be wonderful if, after ten plus years at the very top of society’s (dubious) pecking order, those in the financial services industry get taken a few pegs down
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And a real shame for the men who can’t get any action.
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Sorry but this story just reminds me of anything written by Philip Glass (of “I made up just about every story I wrote using fake interviews with imaginary people that nobody could fact-check, got famous, then got caught” fame)
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… and of course it is entirely written around the basis of -money hungry Japanese girls looking for rich western boyfriends-.
Not much about how the party is over for the boys who also palyed at this game and exploited the girls for an easy fling.
… but then again it is written for the western media, therefore there is only thier angle to be promoted.
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I guess there’s a symbiotic relationship going on at Heartland. Much like a Jaffa and his Goa’uld..
it’s up to the reader decide who’s the Jaffa there
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I’m somewhat late to this party.
I was in Heartland before Christmas for a couple of beers with a work colleague (videogames industry so we didn’t look anything like bankers.)
I got hit on by a Japanese lady within 15 minutes. She was in her 30s, but I am in my 40s, so it would have been fair enough and I’m sure I could have taken her somewhere nice that same evening. However I am too married to be doing with that stuff so I blew her off.
There certainly are Japanese gold-diggers. One of my wife’s friends was one. She was constantly moaning that she couldn’t find a good boyfriend — her definition of good was rich. In the end she did find one and they are now happily married with a son.
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