Let me ask about money. When I met my papa (a male supporter), I was earning less than 2 million yen a year. But after changing jobs a year and a half later—and perhaps thanks to my hard work—I now earn well over 10 million yen a year.

I’m Maezawa from the CEO’s Office, and I’ll answer this too. Thank you for your question. > I feel guilty about the “I’ve transferred it!—Thank you!” exchange. This is the key point. If you’d feel more comfortable with pay-per-meeting rather than bank transfers, I think you should explain exactly how much you’d be comfortable with and say something like: “I’ve started to feel guilty about having you transfer money to me, and if things continue this way, we may have to end our relationship. Would it be possible to switch to pay-per-meeting? I’d like to ask for ¥〇〇,000 per meeting—on the lower side so I don’t feel guilty.” Alternatively, instead of pay-per-meeting, how about receiving a gift once a month? Some men feel uneasy about a relationship where money isn’t involved, so I think it would be better to accept something from him. The important thing, I think, is to mention that you feel guilty.

I’m Date◎Yume, a male member. Since it appears the allowance is being paid by bank transfer, I think you should coordinate with your papa and file a tax return.

I’m a male member who once helped a girl open a business. She told me, “I’ll definitely pay back the money you lent me once the business is doing well,” but I still haven’t gotten any of it back. It’s wonderful that you’ve built your own source of income. If that’s the case, you no longer need an allowance. Since you haven’t talked about personal matters such as the company name, changing jobs, or increasing your income, I assume the money is continuing to be transferred because of the relationship you have with him. I think you should reconsider the kind of relationship you want, determine whether it matches the relationship the man wants, and carefully consider whether it’s something you can continue without putting too much pressure on yourself. From what you’ve written, I get the impression that you want to move forward independently. In that case, cutting off unnecessary money that could confuse you may be one option. From the man’s perspective, it feels somewhat distant and lonely when you keep things like changing jobs, the company name, and your financial situation to yourself—or when things don’t align with what he hopes for—and he feels that you don’t rely on him. > Would you be upset if a woman told you she didn’t need any more money? That depends on what I had done for her up to that point. But only a woman I had supported more than enough—and with whom I had built a relationship of trust—would say that to me, and that’s the kind of relationship it would be. Also, what we give each other isn’t necessarily limited to money; it can also contribute to both of our futures. I believe a strong relationship of trust is essential if you want to continue a relationship that isn’t based solely on money. And if you’re thinking of the man as someone you truly need in your life—someone you can tell everything to honestly—I don’t think you would feel uncomfortable accepting money from him. In fact, you probably would have been able to talk about these things with him already.

I’m in Seattle. You might as well take it. You can start turning it down once you’ve saved around ¥200 million, though. Having extra money won’t hurt, right? Seems fair to me.

I’m Kazu, a male member. More than quintupling your annual income by changing jobs is incredible! Independent women like that are wonderful. If a woman tells me she doesn’t need any money, I wouldn’t be offended, but it would put me in a difficult position. For one thing, having only a few million yen in assets doesn’t provide much security for the future. If you have several tens of millions of yen in highly liquid assets, you can get through unexpected setbacks in life without worrying about the next few months. I think you should simply accept the money and try investing it. P.S. Tax return season is approaching, so just a quick note. You’ve probably already filed, but you should also declare the gift tax. The first step toward building assets is receiving money that has already been taxed. If you haven’t declared it, the tax office may contact you one day, and things could get very difficult. The rates for the additional tax on unfiled returns, the substantial additional tax, and delinquent tax are quite steep. If you voluntarily file before the tax office contacts you, the additional tax on an unfiled return is only 5%. Now that you have some financial breathing room, it would be a good idea to get everything in order. And since getting everything in order requires money, that gives you a reason to continue receiving an allowance. Men also presumably use dating clubs and provide an allowance rather than having a deeply involved affair with no allowance, so they can keep their own affairs in order as much as possible. In that sense, I think the allowance is money that a papa (a male supporter) needs to pay in order to feel that he himself is keeping things clean.