Is there any way to tell during the first meeting whether someone is dominant or submissive? Thank you.

Maezawa from the CEO’s office here, answering as well. I’ve heard stories about people who can tell the moment they meet someone that they’re part of that world. Apparently, even from just a photo, they can tell with about 70% accuracy that someone is probably an S-type. There were some incredible men who made offers based on that kind of judgment. So if you reach that level yourself, I think you’ll be able to tell with 70% accuracy from a photo, and 100% accuracy over dinner. But I don’t think that’s possible for the average person.

I’m Date◎Yume, a male member. If you catch a glimpse of a whip tucked away in her bag, or she wears high heels and taps the floor with her heel, I’d say she’s probably a dominatrix（笑).

I’m Paper Airplane, a hardcore M male member of Kanbutsu...? I once met an S woman at the club and was thoroughly doted on by her. Her profile also said she was an S, so I let her do whatever she wanted and had a great time being completely at her mercy. When someone’s naturally dominant, especially if they lean strongly toward the S side, I feel like you can get a general idea from their profile and photos… Oh, and an SM bar might be worth trying too. I’ve only been once, but recently I decided to go alone just to see what it was like—and there was a cute teenage student taking a gap year who looked like Ryoko Hirosue sitting nearby… We were heading in the same direction, so I asked, “Would you like me to walk you home?” She seemed receptive, and after she settled her bill and left, I quickly paid mine and followed her out. She was waiting outside. I was honestly blown away—“Wow, she really looks like Ryoko Hirosue!” (Actually, I thought she was even cuter.) I ended up driving her home. Maybe it was the sense of security that comes from being an unattractive guy with a somewhat intimidating appearance… I never expected to have a chance encounter like that in such an unexpected place—and with such a cute girl, too. But when I took her home, I found out that she lived only a few hundred meters from my place. Apparently, she was attending a prep school because she was applying to the same university as my son, and that honestly gave me a bit of a chill…

I’m Kazu, a male member. As I wrote in my column, what do S and M really mean? Does S mean someone who likes taking the lead, while M means someone who prefers to be passive? M can refer not only to a masochist, but also to a “starfish”—someone who simply lies there passively. Dealing with a genuine masochist can be extremely challenging, and there are so many different kinds of treatment they may enjoy that you really shouldn’t lump them all together as simply “M.” So, generally speaking, I think the M that people refer to usually means either an extremely mild masochist or a starfish. It’s possible to tell whether someone is a masochist during the first meeting. You just have to tease her about sexual embarrassment during the date and observe her reaction. That said, unless I’d met her at an S&M bar, I couldn’t do something like that with a woman I’d just met through a dating club.