Do the staff generally remember women who have been members for a long time or who are popular? Do they know many of them personally?

They remember quite a lot, so when you make an offer, they might say things like, “I interviewed that woman—she’s a good person,” and give you some insight. It’s definitely best for female members to treat the club staff well and get them on their side. Also, if you’re registered with the club and Universal Lounge, you’ll probably become friendly with some of the women. I’ve seen women chatting with the club staff at the lounge counter, after all. Before COVID, the club held events attended by several female and male members, and I naturally became friendly with the staff who organized them.

I think it varies a lot from person to person. My friend Win, for example, has an incredible ability to recognize faces, so he remembers every girl registered in Nagoya—or at least their faces—even if he’s never met them. We once went to Burlesque Nagoya together. He looked at the eight or so women dancing onstage and said, “Mac, I’ve seen the girl just right of center and the one on the far left in the Univa album. I think they were wearing black and gold.” I was amazed. After their dance, when they came out onto the floor, I spoke to them to confirm it—and he was absolutely right. They were surprised too. There are plenty of other examples. While driving, Win will casually say things like, “Mac, that girl who just went into the Starbucks on the right is registered with Univa.” I can’t remember someone’s face unless I’ve met them about three times, so Win’s ability seems almost supernatural to me. I once had a papa guys’ get-together with some friends in the lounge at the Tokyu Hotel, and a male staff member from Univa’s Nagoya branch at the time came up and said, “Long time no see.” We’d only met once. Apparently, he had been interviewing a male member at the table next to ours, with one table between us, and came over after the interview. I hadn’t noticed him at all. I’m sure there are staff members who, like me, aren’t very good at recognizing faces, so they probably don’t remember which members they’ve dealt with. So I think the differences have less to do with how long someone has been a member or how popular they are, and much more to do with each staff member’s ability to recognize faces. Here’s one more story about how amazing Win is. He was looking through the Univa album and found two women who looked exactly like the same person to him. He suspected they might have registered twice after changing their clothes and makeup, and really wanted to find out, so he made offers to both of them. It turned out they were identical twin sisters. Apparently, they had registered without telling each other, and even the sisters were shocked. The staff might not have noticed either. Personally, even after looking at photos of the two of them, all I could say was, “I guess they do look a little alike if you put it that way.” I’m just not very perceptive, sorry.

It seems that experienced staff members remember or know the more prominent members in the areas they currently cover or have covered in the past.