I’m a newly registered female member.

Maezawa from the CEO’s Office here. > I’m not sure whether the amount he offered is high or low for this industry. It’s natural to wonder how much other people are getting. Many men want to pay as little as possible, while many women want to receive as much as possible. So perhaps you’re worried that the amount is lower than what others receive. But rather than comparing yourself with others, I think you should focus on whether you’re personally comfortable with that amount. If you actually feel it’s too low but are considering compromising because everyone else gets similar amounts, I’d advise against it. Tell him the amount you feel comfortable with. If he can’t agree, I think it’s ultimately better to part ways cleanly. Alternatively, you could decline the monthly arrangement and continue on a pay-per-meeting basis. That way, once you decide the amount isn’t acceptable, you can simply say that you won’t be able to meet again. With monthly payments, even if you start feeling uncomfortable partway through, you may find it difficult to bring up ending things because you’ve already received the money. What matters most is whether you feel comfortable with the amount yourself.

I’m Flag Maker, a column writer. I’d say the going rate is probably somewhere between ¥150,000 and ¥300,000. Anything beyond that is a whole different world, so I really don’t know much about it ^^;

I’m Marika, a female member. Why not think about it in terms of how much you’d be willing to meet him for each time, and roughly how many times you plan to see him? Monthly arrangements vary so wildly that there’s really no point comparing them. When I was younger—around 30, actually—I had a papa (a male supporter) who gave me about ¥320,000 a month. He’d also bring me fancy fruit like Mac-san, or give me presents for no particular reason. But I didn’t like how possessive he was, so it ultimately didn’t last very long. He’d say things like, “You shouldn’t be living somewhere like this,” find me a new place, and have me move. After we broke up, the rent was a real struggle, since I was a broke graduate student. Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to those huge square-cut diamond cufflinks he had. He said he’d give them to me when he died. I wonder if that promise no longer counts since we broke up before he died. I should’ve made sure to get it in his will.

I’m Kami-hikōki, a male member who got kicked out by my wife when I tried to help put our child to bed: “The kid won’t sleep because you came in! Get out!” I meet her on a pay-per-meeting basis, but if you convert the number of meetings to a monthly figure: A simple four times a month would be ×4, so 20. Five times a month would be ×5, so 25. Add dinner dates and similar outings—another 2–3 times—for a total of 7–8 meetings, making it 23–30. (It varies depending on how many hotel visits and meals there are.) On rare occasions, it’s simply ×8, making 40. I haven’t tried a monthly arrangement yet. It seems to offer a lot of advantages for men, so I think women should consider it carefully.