Since there seems to be a lot of discussion about transportation expenses, I’d like to ask a question. It may not be a particularly large number of people, but fortunately, I received offers from nearly five men in one cycle and met with them.

Maezawa here, answering as well. > Regarding the ¥5,000 you call the minimum amount, are there really men who initially offer that amount even when they consider someone their top favorite? I don’t think so. One reason men prefer to pay afterward is that they want to adjust the amount depending on whether they liked the woman. If they pay upfront, they say they can no longer control that part. In other words, it seems many men pay ¥10,000 if they liked her, and ¥5,000 if they felt she wasn’t quite their type. But even when a man isn’t particularly impressed, he may still be happy to see her again. And after meeting several times, he may even start to feel that she’s more attractive than he thought at first. If you’re still seeing the person who gave you ¥5,000, then perhaps he thought you were only so-so at first, but likes you now. > The men naturally give me transportation money at the end of the date—so naturally that it’s almost surprising. Is the rule about paying upfront actually widespread? “Almost surprisingly naturally”… That’s impressive. I suppose men can reach that point after going on enough dates. As for whether my upfront-payment rule has caught on, I wouldn’t know unless I received feedback. Judging from the exchanges here, it doesn’t seem to have spread very widely. > I don’t strongly insist on receiving it upfront, nor do I intend to ask about it. I see. To explain why the upfront-payment rule was introduced in the first place, I receive messages from women almost every day saying things like: “I didn’t receive transportation money from the man, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything…” If we just left this unaddressed, it would be a crisis for Universe, wouldn’t it? Not receiving transportation money that was supposed to be paid is essentially fraud. To prevent that, we changed the rule—after much hesitation—because if it’s paid upfront, it can’t be forgotten, and even if it is, there’s a good chance the person will realize it during the date. But even now, I still receive messages from women almost every day saying, “I didn’t receive the transportation money…” It’s disappointing.