Ranking criteria

Whether the official site gives prices as actual amounts, and whether it spells out the extra costs as well as the course price: extension fees, room fees, travel fees, cancellation fees. The most common problem in this industry is being charged a different amount from the one you were told, so this criterion carries the most weight. A shop that only says “ask us” scores low. For overnight courses, we deduct points if there are conditions that make the usable time shorter than the time shown (for example, the clock starts when he leaves the shop, or the end time is fixed), because the same price then buys less time. If those conditions are only mentioned in a note away from the price table, we deduct more.

Whether there is a recruitment page at all, and whether it states pay, how often pay is made, who can apply and what benefits come with the job, in concrete terms. For the people who work there, this protects against finding out after they start that the terms are different. For customers too, a shop that puts its working conditions in numbers is a sign that it is run properly.

How many people are on the roster, as shown in the shop's official staff list, and how much schedule information the shop publishes. A list of who is working today does not tell you which of them are already booked up; you only find out when you try to book and are told he is no longer taking bookings. Shops that mark this on their schedule get extra points. For schedules ahead, shops that publish two weeks ahead get extra points and shops that publish only a few days lose points, because a schedule that only runs two or three days ahead is not enough to plan time off around. Where we have not been able to confirm how many days a shop publishes, we neither add nor deduct. Roster size is scored relative to the other listed shops, with the head count at the top 10% mark counting as 100.

How many hours a day the shop takes bookings, and how wide an area it covers for outcall visits. A lot of the business happens late at night and early in the morning, so the longer a shop takes bookings, the easier it is in practice to get one.

Whether the shop publishes its address carries the most weight. If there is a dispute over fees or cancellation charges, neither a claim nor a notice can reach someone whose location you do not know. A shop with private rooms has a building, and even an outcall-only shop without premises has an office. In fact, there are outcall-only shops that state 「事務所。来店不可」 (an office, no visitors) and still publish the address down to the street number. We also score whether opening hours, regular days off, a concept and the founding year are published.

Whether the official site says how you can pay, and whether paying by anything other than cash adds a fee. Which methods a shop accepts makes no difference to the score: in this industry, card companies sometimes stop card payments at their own discretion, which the shop cannot control. The highest score goes to shops that state there is no fee, next come shops that state a fee is added, and the lowest go to shops that say you can pay by something other than cash but say nothing about fees. When nothing is written, a surcharge is in practice often added, and if saying nothing scored better, saying nothing would become the right answer. Shops that do not mention how to pay anywhere on their official site score lower still, because you cannot know beforehand how much you will pay on the day, or how. Shops we have not yet checked lose no points. Adding a surcharge to card payments is also something card companies' merchant agreements prohibit.

Whether the shop has its own official website, and whether it runs its own ways of keeping in touch with customers, such as an app, a membership scheme, points or an email newsletter. Official social media accounts are not scored: in this industry, platforms are increasingly suspending or removing accounts at their own discretion, which the shop cannot control. What we look at is whether there is a channel that would still be there if social media became unavailable. For the website, a shop running its own domain, a shop on a subdomain of a free website service, and a shop with only one page on a shared chain site score differently.

Whether the official site gives prices as actual amounts, and whether it spells out the extra costs as well as the course price: extension fees, room fees, travel fees, cancellation fees. The most common problem in this industry is being charged a different amount from the one you were told, so this criterion carries the most weight. A shop that only says “ask us” scores low. For overnight courses, we deduct points if there are conditions that make the usable time shorter than the time shown (for example, the clock starts when he leaves the shop, or the end time is fixed), because the same price then buys less time. If those conditions are only mentioned in a note away from the price table, we deduct more.

Five items, weighted equally: whether the address, the nearest station, the opening hours and a concept are published, and whether there are facts we were able to confirm. An urisen bar is a place you go to in person, so what we look at is whether the information you would want before visiting is all there.

How close the bar is to the nearest station. Where the official site gives a walking time, we use that figure. Many customers come after the last train, so the distance from the station makes a practical difference.

Whether the shop has its own official website, and whether it runs its own ways of keeping in touch with customers, such as an app, a membership scheme, points or an email newsletter. Official social media accounts are not scored: in this industry, platforms are increasingly suspending or removing accounts at their own discretion, which the shop cannot control. What we look at is whether there is a channel that would still be there if social media became unavailable. For the website, a shop running its own domain, a shop on a subdomain of a free website service, and a shop with only one page on a shared chain site score differently.

Whether there is a recruitment page at all, and whether it states pay, how often pay is made, who can apply and what benefits come with the job, in concrete terms. For the people who work there, this protects against finding out after they start that the terms are different. For customers too, a shop that puts its working conditions in numbers is a sign that it is run properly.

The basic set price, scored relative to the other listed bars. It can only be compared among bars that publish a price, so it carries a modest weight. A lower price says nothing about quality.

The number of followers on the official social media accounts the person makes public. Booking requests and sales are information the shop keeps private, so they cannot be used, but follower counts can be checked by anyone and are also correlated with how many customers someone actually draws.

The number of months since the earliest start date we can confirm. In an industry where people come and go quickly, having stayed a long time is itself evidence of being requested consistently.

Whether there is an official profile page, and how complete it is. The fuller the profile, the more you can tell about someone's personality and type before requesting him.

Whether the person runs an official social media account. When someone posts his own schedule, it is easier to time your visit.

Reflects how much the shop he works at publishes about its prices, recruitment terms and business details. How openly a shop discloses and how it is run bear directly on whether it is a good place for its staff to work.