This is Fullerene!
A little late, but for someone like me—moody and only appearing once in a while—I’ll simply post in moderation, in accordance with the forum rules.
The shape of this space will naturally be determined by the kind of place Universe wants it to be, so I intend to read the situation and act accordingly. Please feel free to do as you see fit.
As for the number of visits, I think it’s been affected by the fact that, with more salons and lounges now available, people have to make one extra click to reach this forum—that is, they have to navigate through the members’ or staff voices.
People discovering the site through a new search probably won’t even know this forum exists.
I’m Kida, the site representative.
Thank you very much for your thoughtful responses, especially since this concerned private matters related to site operations.
As I read everyone’s answers, I was reminded of the passion I used to have.
I don’t think Maezawa-senpai’s suggestion this time is merely a minor operational question of whether to review posts before displaying them or moderate them afterward. Rather, I see it as a difference in overall direction:
1. Should we organize the information without turning the Q&A box into chaos, creating a knowledge base that everyone can browse with peace of mind?
2. Or should we make it an anything-goes entertainment venue—a no-holds-barred “Breaking Down” where people can openly argue?
From the very beginning, I’ve consistently wanted it to be the second: an entertainment venue. My views are almost identical to those of Taro and Mac.
That said, each approach has its own merits and serves different needs, so I think it may be best to create a separate message board, as Flag Maker suggested. I also find the idea of having the answerers run it autonomously very interesting.
After all, I think a club is originally meant to be a self-governing group of people who share the same values.
If I’m ever unsure about which direction to take, I may ask for your advice again.
Thank you!
It’s a rather shady dating club to begin with, but Universe Club is exceptionally transparent about disclosing information. That’s one of the main reasons I’ve stayed with them, and I think it’s the club’s greatest strength.
Personally, I think the current system of making posts visible immediately is fine.
If something is inappropriate, it can simply be hidden afterward. I think the way the site is currently moderated works well.
I do think it would be helpful if users who repeatedly post inappropriate questions could at least be blocked by IP address or something similar.
I’m Zuiki, a male member.
I’m the newest among the respondents in both my time as a club member and my experience answering questions, so I’m hardly in a position to lecture anyone. Still, I’d like to share a few thoughts.
Using my limited search skills, I looked through some past information. It seems that around March 2021—about two years ago—the system was changed to its current format: questions are displayed immediately, answers are displayed immediately, and posts that violate the rules are hidden after review.
The main reasons for the change seem to have been:
1. To reduce complaints about questions not being posted or taking too long to appear
2. To reduce the staff resources required to run the anonymous papa-katsu question box
If there were other reasons, please feel free to add them.
At the time, Maezawa-san commented:
“From now on, everything will be displayed immediately, so I feel like this will make everyone happy. That said, we’re operating on the assumption that people are basically good.”
The fact that Maezawa-san has now proposed returning to the old system suggests that we’ve reached the limits of that assumption. Perhaps malicious posts have exceeded what can reasonably be tolerated.
If Maezawa-san believes we should return to the previous system, I fully support that. As a respondent, I’ll simply focus on giving the best answers I can within whatever framework is provided.
No matter what system is adopted, there will always be people who complain or post malicious content.
That said, simply reverting to the old system wouldn’t really be progress, so we need to address the two issues mentioned above.
With that in mind, I’d like to propose—much like some of the other respondents have already suggested—that a certain degree of site management be entrusted to a self-governing organization made up of respondents.
Let’s call it the “designated administrator model.”
Universe Club and Maezawa-san would focus exclusively on supervision and oversight, while the “Universe Club Papa-Katsu Anonymous Question Box Respondents’ Committee,” an unincorporated association, would handle the operation.
It’s anonymous, after all—lol.
This is half-joking and just my personal opinion.
Thank you for your continued support.
I’m not very familiar with how the previous system worked, so I’d like to share my thoughts based on assumptions and speculation.
If the purpose of the Q&A section is to “gather useful information from respondents, like an information site,” then I think questions should be hidden first and displayed later.
If its purpose is “entertainment that increases views and page visits, including those from casual visitors,” then displaying questions first and hiding them later might be better.
Originally, I feel the purpose of the Q&A section was the former, but lately it seems to be shifting toward the latter. As a result, I feel we’re seeing more and more repeated posts from the same people, as well as various forms of slander targeting men and women, club members, and respondents—much like the broken windows theory.
That said, speaking personally as someone who has answered questions here, I believe that even in papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan), relationships are still about human connections. Rather than asking questions and getting answers in a place like this, proper etiquette in a relationship is to first follow the club’s rules, then think things through with your partner and reach a conclusion together.
Female members receive an allowance and do not pay membership fees. So even when dating multiple people, I believe it’s important not to think about how to “攻略” different types of men, but to sincerely engage with each papa (a male supporter) one at a time and find the kind of relationship that works with that particular person—even if it takes a different form from your relationships with others.
My own activities have already taken on more of a mistress-like arrangement than light papa-katsu, so I realize there may be mixed opinions about this.
According to the club’s survey, it seemed that many men were seeing just one person. If we assume that many of the club’s members are not part of the light papa-katsu crowd and are instead the main source of funding, then this Q&A section may also be better suited to the former system. Since this is supposed to be a Q&A section run by the club, perhaps minority opinions could be written as columns instead.
(Those who manage multiple relationships successfully are able to engage sincerely with everyone, so there may not be any need to tailor things to the lightest users.)
Now that papa-katsu has become commonplace and more casual through apps, I think whether questions should be displayed or hidden depends on the position from which the Q&A section is operated.
That decision is up to the administrators, so I can’t say which option is better.
However, before asking a question, I often feel that people should first talk to the other person, think for themselves, Google it, and search for information. Even with urgent questions, this is essentially a bulletin board, so instead of waiting for replies, people should search, think for themselves, and recognize that failing to prepare in advance or develop a plan was their own oversight. There is already that much information available online, and if you can’t judge how to proceed based on the person you’re dealing with, I believe thoroughly researching possible scenarios beforehand is a basic rule.
Also, searching for the answer yourself is faster than waiting for someone to respond, so I find the whole thing contradictory in that respect.
Anyway, this is still just my personal opinion.
Sorry for the lengthy post.
It feels like this industry’s market has more or less reached maturity, with growth slowing and its momentum fading. You can sense it in both the columns and the Q&A box.
Even though dating clubs have aspects that go against conventional morality, I feel that as the number of people involved has grown, a sort of “dating etiquette” has developed—and anything that goes against it tends to be criticized.
I generally have sex without a condom and finish inside. “Using a condom is out of the question.” It’s getting to the point where even writing something like that is difficult.
※This is just an example. I always use a condom.
That’s how much I feel the need to add a disclaimer.
If I write honestly, I worry that male members who read it might misunderstand and cause trouble for women doing papa-katsu, so I can’t be completely candid.
There are just too many things that can’t be said in the current Q&A box. I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way.
I think a private, paid Q&A box for male members—say, ¥1,000 a month—where anyone could ask questions and anyone could answer them, might really take off. Precisely because the market has matured, I feel we’ve reached a point where people would pay for information sharing within the community.
This Q&A box could perhaps specialize in outward-facing content, offering light, safe answers aimed at female members.
I’m entering my fifth year as a respondent this year. Having experienced how things used to be, I do think it would be better to bring the old system back.
I don’t remember exactly when this Q&A section started, but I feel that it was what prompted me to register as a member. So while my answers may be fairly conventional and not especially exciting, I’ve always tried to make them useful for people who are thinking about getting involved.
In the past, questions and answers weren’t posted until a certain number had been collected, which gave me time to approach things from a different perspective than the other respondents. Since posts started appearing immediately, the quality of the questions seems to have declined somewhat. At the same time, I’ve increasingly felt that by the time I answer, no one will pay attention anyway… and I’ve gradually lost interest in responding.
I’m still very active in the club itself, so there’s plenty I’d like to share for people who might find it helpful, though… lol
I think posts should be displayed immediately. In this day and age, real-time updates are the norm, and it would make the site more lively and interesting. Trolling, abusive comments, and personal attacks are pretty common nowadays anyway, so people can just skip anything they don’t like. As for lies or exaggerations, readers should be able to see through them themselves—I’d like to think everyone has at least that level of media literacy these days. I think it’s fine for the club to set certain standards and filter things out, but given the staff’s workload, doing it afterward should be enough. When Maezawa-san is busy and nothing gets updated for a whole day, leaving everyone waiting around, I don’t think anyone benefits.
I’d also like you to think a little more carefully about the reasons for hiding posts. Hiding personal attacks or a barrage of consecutive posts makes sense, but isn’t “because it isn’t a question” a bit too strict? For example, sometimes a typo leaves only a few characters in what was supposed to be a question, and the respondents naturally turn it into a playful comedy routine. When that post is hidden the next day, it feels pretty disappointing.
As respondents, we don’t just answer questions—we often use a question as a springboard to expand the conversation. Even when someone is simply stating an opinion rather than asking a question, I respond because I feel there’s something I can work with. If a post was hidden because the resulting response was boring, I could accept that. But having it hidden solely because “it isn’t a question” makes me feel that the effort put in by the respondents isn’t really being understood.
The comedy routine I mentioned earlier is another example. Saying something silly for the fun of it, or suddenly getting switched on and digging way too deeply into some odd detail—that’s also part of a respondent’s natural personality. Before I ever became a respondent myself, I remember seeing Mac-san repeatedly give answers like that, and it made the whole thing feel very real. You’d think, “Successful business owners really can be like that,” and, “So this is the kind of person who enjoys a dating club.” That sense of reality came through.
秩序 is important, but there’s also a certain realism that comes from letting people run a little wild. At the moment, things feel slightly too conservative.
The bulletin-board format itself is very early-2000s, so I’m sure there are plenty of technical improvements that could be made. But as a place where middle-aged men and women from the Showa era (though not everyone is) can speak frankly—even about risqué questions—it has the flavor of drinking under the Yurakucho train tracks. I think leaving it as it is might come full circle and make it even more appealing.
That said, the operating rules may need to be revisited. Or rather, perhaps it’s the person in charge of running things who needs to be reconsidered. I don’t think there’s a single correct way to run this kind of board, and nothing truly interesting comes from safe, by-the-book management. It would be more fun if someone ran it according to their own whims.
Not just anyone, of course—someone who genuinely cares about the board and has strong opinions, for better or worse. I always thought the old NIFTY-Serve system of assigning forum moderators was brilliant. Since the president is busy, I think a staff member with that kind of passion could take charge. And if Maezawa-san is going to do it, I’d like him to let his character come through much more strongly and go completely off the rails (no need to consult the president).
Having one of the respondents in charge might work too. Either way, keeping the same person in charge permanently would have both advantages and disadvantages, so it might be interesting to rotate the role periodically. Something like a change of government: Kazu-san → Kami-hikoki-san → Mac-san → Aya-san → Nana Ayase-san. The whole direction would keep swinging around, and all kinds of things might happen（笑）.
Sorry for saying whatever I felt like. If you didn’t like it, feel free to punch me. As long as it only causes a nosebleed, you don’t even have to apologize.
Taro
I think it would be better to publish questions once a certain number of answers have been collected.
That would make them more worthwhile for readers, with more useful and referenceable information—especially for those who genuinely need it. I also think it would benefit the club considerably. In its current form, the question box offers very little upside for the club.
Over time, various approaches have been tried, such as having staff members other than Maezawa-san handle it and having staff answer every question. After all those attempts, I imagine the overall direction has become fairly clear.
Maezawa-san’s ability to process everything is remarkable. He is indispensable to keeping the question box going, and I would even call it a special talent.
That said, is it really possible—or necessary—for Maezawa-san to manually switch each question to public, as he used to?
If we are thinking decades into the future, we need to automate the process as much as possible. It also needs to function without relying on Maezawa-san.
In the past, during periods when things became heated and various approaches were being tried, even column writers sometimes uploaded posts.
At present, I think the better approach would be:
Questions would initially remain hidden. Once answers were submitted, the person who answered would switch the question to public.
Once a certain number of varied answers had been collected—or if it was a sensible question or one requiring a quick response—the respondents could make it public as soon as they had answered.
If a respondent like Mac-san wanted to publish an answer quickly, they could do so.
On the other hand, if a question was clearly not suitable for publication, no one would answer it, and it would remain unpublished.
Then, if Maezawa-san, President Kida, or someone else determined that a published question needed to be taken down, they could switch it back to hidden.
I believe the question box only truly benefits readers, prospective members, existing members, and the club when it provides useful information not only to the person who asked the question, but also to everyone else who needs it.
Carefully selecting what gets published would also allow us to provide fair information without confusing readers or people considering joining. Without taking responsibility for that process, the question box cannot function properly, which would be a real waste.
When I first became a respondent, I was surprised and deeply impressed by how honestly and openly people shared things in the question box, without lies or embellishment.
The current situation has become the one Kaz-san described, and it is troubling to wonder where the question box’s former contribution has gone.
I hope we can use this as an opportunity to develop a system that reduces Maezawa-san’s workload while providing readers with useful information that includes a range of different opinions.
P.S.
Also, even as a respondent, I have completely started forgetting to check the current question box. The content of the questions has changed that much.
Readers, questioners, and Maezawa-san may feel the same way.
I also feel that the nature of the questions changed after Makeo-san retired.
Without someone with that kind of distinctive character, immediate publication may be even more difficult.
Regarding Taro-san’s comment:
> It might be fine for a respondent to be in charge of operations. In any case, keeping the same person permanently would have both advantages and disadvantages, so it might be interesting to rotate the role at set intervals.
It has already been demonstrated that Maezawa-san cannot handle this forever, and that staff members other than Maezawa-san simply cannot do it. If every respondent were able to switch questions to public, it would also prevent delays before publication.
As Taro-san wrote, operating the system requires an extraordinary amount of effort, so salaried staff members—other than Maezawa-san—simply cannot manage it. It would require going beyond what can reasonably be considered part of the job.
I hope a sustainable operating method can be established while Maezawa-san is still available.
Regarding “immediate publication”:
When respondents see the public and answered markers, it discourages them from answering. Answers are less likely to accumulate, and more questions end up with only a small number of responses, making them increasingly shallow.
I feel that this has also reduced the enjoyment for both respondents and readers, weakening their interest in reading or even checking the question box, and making them lose the motivation to answer or read.
Is the intended direction something like a chat, bulletin board, or 2channel-style exchange?
If not, I feel there also needs to be a certain level of tension for questioners—that their question will not be published unless it is reasonably well considered.
I’m not familiar with the previous system, but I think having questions displayed immediately and answered is a good system for people who need help.
That said, as someone who answers questions, I don’t feel inclined to respond to posts that are trivial, aren’t really questions, or—worst of all—contain abusive or defamatory content. I think those would be better hidden.
③ It also means more work for Mr. Maezawa, and I’m not sure whether it’s worth going that far…
I asked questions myself when I was new to papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan), and the answers were helpful. I’d like to be of help to others in the same position.
I hope you’ll make your decision with points ①, ②, and ③ in mind.
I know you’re busy, but I’d also like to read one of Kida-san’s cutting responses from time to time.
President Kida, Mr. Maezawa,
Thank you for your continued support.
Since I don’t know how things were done before, it’s difficult for me to say which approach is better, but…
Whether posts are hidden first and then made visible, or made visible first and then hidden, anything malicious or unrelated to the question will end up being hidden either way, so I don’t think the outcome would be any different.
I honestly can’t understand why anyone would go out of their way to post something malicious. But since they presumably do it knowing that it will be hidden, I don’t think there’s much that can be done.
More importantly, I think it would be better to keep things as they are so that people who are genuinely struggling and have asked a question can see answers right away.
I imagine there are also questioners waiting and hoping that an answer will come in.
That said, I think whichever option is less burdensome for you, Mr. Maezawa, would be best.
Best regards,
Rin
SALON Female Member
With the old system, where posts went from hidden to visible, I sometimes lost the motivation to write an answer because I’d think, “This question probably won’t be shown anyway.” It’s pretty discouraging to spend time writing a long answer, only to have Maezawa-san reject it with a simple “We’ll leave it hidden.”
With the current system, where posts go from visible to hidden, at least someone may have read it while it was visible, even if only briefly, so I get some sense that my effort wasn’t completely wasted.
So personally, I prefer the current system.
Also, even after changing from hidden→visible to visible→hidden, I don’t feel that the number of so-called “malicious questions” has either increased or decreased. What do the data show? Since all you have to do is compare the rate of questions that went from hidden to visible with the rate that went from visible to hidden, wouldn’t this be exactly the kind of issue that should be compared numerically?
Incidentally, after that, the questioner’s ID became visible to those answering. That seems to have reduced the proportion of “malicious questions,” probably because people can no longer post repeatedly while pretending to be different users.
As a suggestion, after the buttons for “gender,” “age,” and “member,” you could add a “seriousness” button and have users self-report which category their question falls into:
1. I’m provoking people because I want the answerers’ attention.
2. I’m not malicious, but I’m bored and want to chat.
3. I can’t be bothered to research it myself or contact a branch office, so I want a quick answer.
4. I have a simple, genuine question.
5. I’m seriously struggling with a real problem.
The categories would increase in seriousness from ① to ⑤. If someone declared, “This is just a provocation,” people could enjoy it as a kind of predetermined verbal wrestling match. Taro-san seems like he’d be good at that.
Whether a question is malicious or not can actually be surprisingly difficult to discern, especially when the person’s writing is poor or they take an unnecessarily cynical tone. That’s why I think it would be best to have the questioner declare it themselves.
I think posts should be displayed later, as they used to be.
Ever since they started appearing immediately, more people have been using that feature to make posts mainly to express their opinions.
I believe that having certain rules is part of the value provided by an escort club. If you prefer a lawless environment, there are other sites for that.
P.S. To put it another way, I also think the downside of immediate posting is that it allows people to get what they want and disappear. Being able to enjoy that kind of hit-and-run arrangement isn’t what an escort club is supposed to be.
P.P.S. Reading the other answers made me realize that the site was probably most interesting back when posts weren’t displayed immediately and Maezawa-san had strong authority without constantly interfering in everything. Though I imagine it must have been a lot of work for him.
Basically, I think it’s fine to display them later.
That said, it’s also true that moderating content can lead people to make unfounded accusations.
So one option would be to publish the hidden questions elsewhere later, showing what kinds of questions were not displayed.
When I first used a dating club, I was drawn to the openness and integrity of Universe Club.
To put it bluntly, the other dating clubs seemed rather shady.
I think it would be better to preserve the kind of transparency that makes men considering registering with a dating club feel that Universe Club is a safe choice.
I’m happy with things as they are since they’re fast and it’s fun seeing such a mixed bag of posts.
P.S. I think it’s good that Kazu has the final say over whether posts are shown or hidden.
Hopefully, only a small number will be hidden.
P.S.
With the previous system, posts would all appear at once after Maezawa decided whether to show or hide them. It was fairly quick, but occasionally, when Maezawa was busy, no questions would be posted at all for an entire day.
I’m not quite sure what it was like before...
Since it’s true that there have been some negative comments, I’d vote for displaying them afterward.
Also, I wonder if putting the previous questions somewhere more visible would help reduce the number of people asking the same questions over and over.
I think fewer people look farther down the page. What do you think?
Ayase Nana
Thanks for all your work.
If I had to choose, I think displaying them later would be better.
I feel the choice between “display immediately” and “display later” depends on how the anonymous question box is positioned or what role it is meant to serve.
If it’s intended as a community for sharing information, like social media, then displaying questions immediately makes sense.
On the other hand, if it’s meant to be a place where Universe shares information—in the form of answers to questions—then displaying them later would allow the posted information to be reviewed first. While that would create more work for the people doing the checking, it would also allow Universe to properly manage both the questions and their answers.
Even now, questions are sometimes hidden after being posted or partially edited, so I believe the anonymous question box is being moderated. However, there are also times when questions remain visible for a while even after being marked for later removal.
