I feel like more women have recently been registering with “I want to save up for studying abroad” as their reason. Is this actually true, or has it become a popular excuse among women because it’s a convenient way to say they need a substantial amount of money? If it is genuine, then from a man’s perspective, it’s almost like paying money only to have her become unavailable later… At least personally, if I see the word “studying abroad,” I tend to hold off on making an offer.

This is Saito, the column writer ♪ I think it’s just the way the times are changing, much like Leaf mentioned. Compared with the past, having study-abroad experience is now considered fairly important when applying for jobs. As employers, we’d also choose someone who took a year off to study abroad. Companies doing business in Japan, where the population is clearly declining, are the ones that will face the real challenges. Students know that studying abroad gives them an advantage when job hunting. However, New York has become much more expensive for international students. These days, Canada may be the more popular destination… {We actually reject applicants who studied in places like Australia or New York, where Japanese is readily usable and they can go thanks to their parents’ financial support. Drug use is also relatively common in those places.} That’s simply how things are at our company. There are also companies with branches overseas, so please forgive me if anything in this column comes across as offensive to anyone reading it. I’ve helped one woman from the papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan) scene study abroad, and recently we met up and had fun in New York. It’s exciting to be able to meet up anywhere in the world. Well… I imagine Universe will also open branches all over the world. The time has already come when study-abroad experience is being valued more highly, and I believe they’ve already adapted to that.