I heard that if you unfortunately end up with a man who doesn’t give you transportation money, the club will reimburse your transportation costs if you report him afterward. Is that true? If so, women wouldn’t have to ask for transportation money or worry about whether they’ll receive it.

Kida, the representative, will answer as well. Since there’s nothing more to add beyond Maezawa’s answer, I’m going to give you a slightly cheeky response. It’s not a guarantee. We’re not giving women money as some kind of guarantee. Our agreement with the men is: “No matter what kind of date it is—even if the woman is someone you absolutely can’t stand—please stay calm and give her at least ¥5,000. That’s the rule. We’ll review what happened afterward, and the club will either apologize or refund the arrangement fee.” But women are told when they join, “Since it’s the rule, make sure you receive it. If you haven’t received it by the time you’re about to leave, ask the man yourself.” It’s also written in the information we provide afterward. So why don’t you say anything?? If you can get really angry and be that forceful with the club staff, why can’t you simply tell the man, “I’m sorry, but the club told me I’m supposed to receive the transportation fee. Would it be possible for you to give it to me?” Why say, “Okay, I’ll text you later—bye-bye,” instead? If the man said, “I wouldn’t give you a single penny. Get lost,” then you should leave immediately. But men don’t say that! They’ve usually just forgotten! Rather than contacting the club later to ask about the transportation fee, it would make the man happier—and give you a better chance of continuing the relationship—if you asked him politely yourself. That’s what I think. I know it can be difficult to bring up, but please say something. But don’t get the wrong idea. Don’t come out with something ridiculous like, “The staff told me the allowance had to be at least ¥100,000.” We never said that. Not even once. That depends on you. So, if you didn’t receive the transportation fee, please contact the staff—but don’t get angry at us.

Maezawa here. It’s true that if you contact the club, the club will cover your transportation expenses. So if you don’t receive them, please contact the club right away. That said, we’ll naturally need to confirm the situation with the man first. If he claims that he paid you when he actually didn’t, it becomes very difficult for the club to determine who is telling the truth. For that reason, please try to receive the transportation money during the date whenever possible. Even if the man lies, if he repeats the same thing two or so times, we’ll be able to determine that he’s the one lying. We’ll then remove him from the club and transfer the transportation expenses to the woman. Until then, however, the club may be unable to determine what happened and therefore unable to provide compensation. It’s also common for us to ask whether you plan to see the man again. If you do, we’ll ask you to receive the money at that time. If you don’t plan to see him again, the club will pay your transportation expenses. It’s unfortunate that some men won’t pay unless the woman asks for it.