I’m a male Black member.

Maezawa from the president’s office here. > Shouldn’t the staff assign more women to the Black class? In the past, the Kanto area used a system that essentially divided things into Tokyo and everywhere else. Women in Tokyo were placed one class lower, while those in Omiya, Chiba, and Yokohama weren’t. As a result, Black-class women in Tokyo could receive Platinum offers, but women in Omiya, Chiba, and Yokohama couldn’t. Their registered classes were effectively one level out of sync. We received many complaints—or perhaps laments—about this. After improvements were made in response to the anguished voices of male members, Omiya, Chiba, and Yokohama began using the same registration standards as Tokyo. I think Tokyo may have been the only place in the country with different standards. However, the men’s feedback was that the standards in Omiya, Chiba, and Yokohama were wrong, so I assume everything was brought in line with Tokyo’s standards. (Tokyo’s larger revenue may also have played a role.) And now there’s the difference in standards between Osaka and Tokyo… It will be interesting to see which standard they decide to adopt this time. That said, the heads of East and West Japan are separate, so it’s also possible that things will remain as they are.

I’m Saito, the column writer♪ > Honestly, looking at the recent Black-tier women in the Kanto area, I don’t think the staff have a very good eye for talent. > They’re all just ordinary women in their late 20s to early 30s who are slightly on the pretty side. > I’m jealous of how many high-level women there are in western Japan… I’ve also sometimes felt that the women in western Japan are higher-level. That said, the women in the Kanto Black tier probably have better attitudes during interviews, and their financial expectations were more modest as well. The “young” beauties in Kanto have been toughened up by the competition, so I get the impression that many of them disappear as soon as they receive substantial support. On another note, a male member once advised me that Black-tier women in western Japan and rural areas are good prospects because their allowances are lower. And separately, a Secret woman from western Japan told me that men there are very strict about pricing. I feel like there are really strong regional differences. Recently, I’ve had the impression that more men in the Kanto area are casually paying one or two million yen. It seems like there’s a difference between women fighting in a harsh environment and women fighting in a relatively easygoing environment with a much larger pool of competitors.