It’s said that more women have started papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan) during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Universe has fewer female members than before COVID. Are they moving to apps that don’t require interviews?

> It’s often said that more women started papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan) during the COVID-19 pandemic, but where does that information come from? > Is it actually reliable? Anyone who’s active across a wide range of platforms, including apps, probably already knows this, but it feels like there are fewer women on the apps as well. Because their numbers have decreased, some women are receiving higher allowances. At the same time, there are also women who are struggling financially, and their allowances have gone down. In other words, allowances have become polarized. Some women’s allowances have increased because of COVID, while others have seen theirs decrease. On top of that, I think there are more agencies posing as women on apps and similar platforms. You meet someone, only to find out she’s working for an agency—that seems to be happening more often. Looking at it that way, I think there are fewer ordinary women participating in papa-katsu. Even so, unlike apps and similar platforms, Universe has “good men” and “wonderful men,” so I think it has managed to reach its current state without a major drop in the number of women. Incidentally, SALON seems to have an even higher chance of having better men than Universe. Apparently, even though they’ve reached their capacity for male members, men are still applying. (They’re being asked to wait until some current members leave.) It seems that many women continue to come in for interviews every month, even though the number of male members isn’t increasing any further. I think that women will still gather wherever there are good men, even when circumstances are difficult. Hopefully, people will come to feel that Universe is a place where all the male members are great, too.

If you think about it, you’ll see that the number of women starting papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan) doesn’t necessarily correspond to the total number of female members. The membership count is the number of people who joined minus the number who left. Compared with other dating clubs, Universe Club is fairly diligent about removing women they can no longer get in touch with from its membership. I believe the sharp drop in membership last year was the result of enforcing this policy quite strictly.

I don’t know the actual figures, but SALON says that 24 women joined last month. I’m not sure how many applicants pass the interview, but I’ve also seen it stated that only one in ten does, so I assume a fair number of women are going in for interviews. Given the current situation, I imagine those who already have a good papa (a male supporter) have probably put their memberships on hold and are avoiding meeting too many people.