I’m a Tokyo office worker, and I’m surprised by how many recent graduates and women in their second year of work tell me they were already going to expensive restaurants with friends while they were students. Apparently, they also spent money on travel and beauty treatments. They say they managed back then with part-time jobs and now with their salaries, but even without well-off parents or doing papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan), is this level of spending really common?

I’m a female member, Potassium. Since we’re fairly close in age—I’m in my fifth year at work—I thought I’d share what I know from my time at university in Kansai. A lot of younger women these days go to upscale restaurants. Even some of my juniors do… As someone in my late twenties, I’m honestly surprised. Back in university, there were also girls who bought high-end designer brands or went traveling and to beauty salons. That said, even at the same university, things varied a lot depending on the department. In architecture, we were constantly buried in drafting and model-making, often working through the night, so we usually had neither the time nor the money. The girls posting upscale restaurants and designer brands on Instagram generally fell into several categories: their parents were wealthy, their close friends from their club were wealthy, they had a wealthy boyfriend, they were favored by the manager at their part-time job, or they were actually working at a hostess club—quite a few women at all-female universities do that. Oh, and there were also girls who worked part-time during class, handling email exchanges and payments for arrangements with older, prominent men. How much someone’s university life differed depended greatly on how they spent their time and money, and how many connections they had. So, in conclusion, it’s not unusual. That’s just based on what I’ve seen—my personal “Potassium theory.” Though I guess it’s not really a theory.

People spend their money on different things, so whether someone’s spending habits are unusual really depends on the person. My sisters love saving money. They don’t splurge on clothes or food, and even when they travel occasionally for their favorite celebrities, they use low-cost airlines. Apparently, they enjoy finding ways to save and don’t like working themselves to the bone just for luxury. As for me, I’m fine as long as I have a reasonable amount in savings. I don’t mind spending on clothes or restaurants I really like, and when I travel, I only fly ANA or JAL. I work hard to maintain a high income so I can afford that lifestyle. Everyone’s different, so I don’t think there’s much point in comparing the person you’re seeing with other people.

Even those expensive restaurants can cost around ¥3,000 per person at lunchtime, and even students can afford to go about once a month. If you earn ¥50,000 a month from a part-time job, you could probably make it work—for example, ¥10,000 for the hair salon, ¥10,000 for esthetic treatments or a cosmetic dermatologist, and ¥30,000 for dining out. Also, I think it has something to do with younger people simply talking about memorable experiences. People who eat upscale food practically every day take it for granted, so they don’t even bring it up as a topic.

Even at expensive restaurants, the bill itself is probably not all that much. If it were something special enough to mention, wouldn’t it be fairly common? That said, it’s hard to rule out the possibility that her source of money was a part-time job at a hostess club or a delivery health service. It’s not particularly unusual for someone to have worked at a hostess club or a delivery health service while they were a student.