An extravagant wake and funeral was held earlier this month in memory of host club Ai Honten's flamboyant founder, Takeshi Aida, who passed away on Oct. 25 at the age of 78 after a prolonged illness.
"At the request of the deceased, in addition to a gold coffin there was a memorial display composed of a 12-step tower made up of more than 1,300 gold champagne coupes," the organizer of the funeral for the man who became known as the "host club king" says, adding that the cost for the display came to ¥400,000.
A photo — in monochrome, alas — published in Shukan Shincho (Nov. 15) shows the display. The champagne coupes were left empty. Had they been filled with Dom Perignon at the rates normally charged to customers at Ai Honten in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, the organizer estimates the price tag would probably have exceeded a whopping ¥10 million.
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