Agency - English program:.Documentary Program - West.

Director, Penelope Buitenhuis ; script, Penelope Buitenhuis ; producer, Gillian Darling Kovanic ; editor, Bonni Devlin ; director of photography, David Frazee ; composer, Doug Blackley, Dennis Burke ; location sound, Leigh Hunt Wilks, Keith Henderson ; executive producer, Graydon McCrea.

Participant, Anne Allison, Hidemi Arasaki, null Yayoi, Terra Maria, Mia Sara, Ichikyo San, Ryosuke Ikeda, Tomoko Kawabata, null Niko, Peter MacIntosh, Wakita San, Mameyu San, Memeharu San ; actor, Fred Menemoto, Jay Lyn Green, Akinori Nagai, Maritama Carlson, Patrick Pon, Christine Taylor, Toshikazu Sugamori.

Recorded 2000.

It is a game we all agree to play... We are buying and selling dreams. "I couldn't believe that they were paying me to drink and party and just sit around and talk to people. I thought it was fabulous." Jamie was making a thousand dollars a night when she started working in a hostess club in Japan. Little did she realize that she would eventually flee for safety to a remote Thai island. Hilary is hostessing in a Tokyo nightclub to pay off her student debts. Nancy came to Japan to study butoh--a contemporary dance form. Dhana was offered a million dollars to marry one of her clients. Tokyo Girls is a candid journey into the world of four young Canadian women who work as well-paid hostesses in exclusive Japanese nightclubs. Lured by adventure and easy money, these modern-day geisha find themselves caught up in the mizu shobai--the complex "floating water world" of Tokyo clubs and bars. Drawn by fast money, some women become consumed by the lavish lifestyle and forget why they came. One hostess calls it "losing the plot." With a pulsating visual style, Tokyo Girls captures the raw energy of urban Japan and its fascination with the new. Shot in Canada, Osaka and Tokyo, this is a riveting inside look at the impact of the "economy geisha." Desired mainly for her looks, the hostess is rapidly replacing the cultural institution of geisha--women trained in the ancient art of traditional entertainment.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Award for Musical Score, 2001 Award for Best Cinematography, 2001 Gemini Award for Best Picture Editing in a Documentary, 2001 Gemini Award for Best Photography in a Documentary, 2001 Bronze Plaque Award - Category: Social Issues, 2001

Description based on online resource; title from title screen (National Film Board of Canada, viewed 2023-08-10).