I’m a male member. Do women really take the transportation money upfront and then disappear, as the gentleman known for his harrowing papa-katsu experiences claims? I can imagine there are quite a few who disappear after receiving their allowance upfront at a hotel, though. If someone disappears over ¥10,000 in transportation money, isn’t there something wrong on the man’s side—like she simply finds him physically unbearable? Of course, even so, that behavior isn’t acceptable. I’ve met around 20 women since joining, and I always pay the transportation money and allowance upfront. I do this because I feel women are more likely to respond comfortably that way, and I’m afraid I might otherwise forget. If there really are a certain number of women who disappear after taking the money, I’d like to make sure to leave feedback and have them removed from the service.

I’m Kazu, a male member. I don’t know whether “ghosting girls” actually exist or not, but even if I happened to run into one, it would only mean saying goodbye to one Higuchi or Fukuzawa from my wallet. That’s life experience. When I think of it as having had a meal with someone that unusual, I don’t feel it would be a loss.

I’m Paper Airplane, an online male member. With online dates, there’s no need to worry about transportation costs and all that. Up until my 30s, I was like you, Questioner—more or less like a high schooler who believed 100% in people’s inherent goodness. Your sense of honor as a man—sending the allowance upfront rather than just covering transportation—is important too. After living 50 years, though, that belief in people’s goodness gradually falls apart... When I was stressed out, thinking, “Why the hell would they do that?” but unable to say it to my employees, the Q&A box became a ray of light... Even now, whenever I feel a sudden surge of stress, I take a quick look at the question box and fire off a quick answer to blow off some steam. It’s like going, “Haaa...” and smoking a cigarette... I finally understood how smokers feel through the question box. I look at the question box and go, “Haaaaaa...” All while getting a taste of that pleasant nicotine addiction... > Joe, Are you saying the Questioner is prepared to quit? Or that you want the woman to quit? Which is it...? Getting ghosted for that kind of amount—you’re really experiencing one of those unbearably satisfying moments of male happiness (just part of being a man, perhaps)... I’m jealous... By the time the climax arrives, it’s too late for regrets, and I end up thoroughly disgusted with my own astonishing stupidity... Regretting it afterward doesn’t help... P.S. At lectures, one question that often comes up during the Q&A is: “How can I find fulfilling work?” “First, you need to find fulfillment in the work right in front of you.” It’s important to focus on building a good relationship with the person right in front of you, to the point where offers and all that become irrelevant. P.P.S. I went to the municipal office to file for divorce, only to be told, “Huh? There’s a request on file not to accept it, so we can’t process the divorce.” Wait, seriously?? Which is more likely: that happening, or someone ghosting you after you’ve only paid their transportation costs?

I’m Joe, a male member. I’m happy—and relieved—to be answering after Mac, so here goes. As Mac said, if we’re talking simply about whether they exist, then yes, I believe they do. However, I really don’t think there are so many of them that the person asking this question would feel compelled to quit. Whatever their side of the story may be, I can’t imagine a club turning a blind eye if it became a recurring pattern. Incidentally, the “ghosting girl” Joe met involved a seven-figure sum—though, unnecessarily, rounding it up would make it eight figures. Then, after a while, she suddenly appeared in front of Joe again, and the amount became eight figures even without rounding. I guess you shouldn’t round up too casually. But please rest assured—she wasn’t a Universe girl.

I’m Maezawa from the president’s office, and I’ll answer this one too. A while back, we received a report from a man saying that the woman had left partway through the date. However, he hadn’t paid her in advance, and she had left without even receiving transportation money. When we heard the woman’s side of the story, it went something like this: During the meal, the man brought up what he wanted to do afterward. She politely declined, but he got angry and said something along the lines of, “Fine, whatever.” So she left. The man, however, didn’t think the date was over. He contacted the club right then and said, “The woman just left in the middle of the date. What’s going on?” Since these situations involve two people, I think misunderstandings can happen. In this case, it was probably just a case of crossed wires. Still, from an emotional standpoint, if he got angry because she turned him down, I can understand why she left. I imagine she must have felt extremely uncomfortable. I can understand being disappointed if she didn’t agree to anything after the meal, but there was no need to get angry about it. There may have been other incidents where a woman left partway through, but this is the only one I know of. In the first place, it’s difficult to leave in the middle of a meal, so most women probably stay until the meal is over. Come to think of it, there was also a woman who called for help during a meal. She said something like, “This is what’s happening, and I can’t take it anymore. Is it okay if I leave?” Some men do things that a gentleman would never even imagine. So if a man has had a woman leave partway through, I think it’s more often because there was something wrong with the way he treated her—he just may not have realized it himself. That said, there are people who commit random murders for no reason, so women may leave partway through even when the man hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s also possible that such cases have happened, but I simply haven’t seen those reports.