I’m considering joining The Salon. Would it be difficult to participate if I don’t live in Tokyo? (I live in Nagoya.)

Sakurai from the SALON staff will answer your questions. Thank you for your interest in SALON. > Is it difficult to be active with The SALON unless you live in Tokyo? (I live in Nagoya.) Some SALON members live outside the area. However, you will need to come in person for an interview and screening. Also, arrangements are generally made at our locations, so you will need to travel to Tokyo. (We do not cover transportation expenses.) If you are comfortable with the above, we would be happy for you to contact us. > I was previously registered with Universe. Will my type, rank, and number of offers at the time be used as criteria when screening my application? The number of offers you received while active with Universe will not be used as screening criteria. > Would someone currently registered with Universe have an advantage? (I received offers from several people but stopped after about a month.) Being registered with Universe—or not being registered—does not give you any advantage or disadvantage in our screening process. We make our decisions based on SALON’s own screening criteria, and many women who had never been registered with Universe have been accepted. > I’d appreciate it if you could explain how the preferences of the men registered with The SALON differ from those of men at Universe. Preferences vary from man to man, so we’re unable to comment on general tendencies. Men who want to choose women themselves by looking at their photos may find Universe Club more enjoyable. SALON does not make photos or profiles public, so men who want to experience the excitement and anticipation of meeting someone at the location without knowing what she looks like or anything about her profile may find SALON more enjoyable.

I’m Kazu, a male member. I’ve heard that, although there aren’t many, women from outside the Kanto region are also registered with the salon. That said, as Maezawa mentioned, unlike a first date through Universe, a meeting arranged through the salon may not work out. In that case, there’s no ¥20,000 allowance from the man, so the woman would end up out of pocket even after paying for transportation. Even if things do work out and she receives the ¥20,000 allowance, it still wouldn’t quite cover the bullet-train fare. And unless it develops into a relationship where she can receive an allowance on future dates, she would still be losing money. Just as men without much financial leeway are often not preferred by women, women without much financial leeway also tend to be less popular with men. If you don’t mind paying for the bullet-train fare yourself, I think you should consider applying for an interview. You should first decide whether to attend the interview after taking all of this into account. At the salon, the staff introduce women based on each man’s preferences. Everyone’s tastes are different, and there probably aren’t enough male members to identify any clear trends.

Maezawa from the president’s office here. Thank you for your question. THE SALON is not an online salon—it’s an actual, in-person salon. You can live anywhere, but you’ll need to come to Tokyo for every setting. Also, even if you come from far away, your actual travel expenses will not be reimbursed. With that in mind, it may be difficult for people who live far away. However, if you believe you’re unlikely to be rejected, or you don’t mind being rejected and consider paying your own travel expenses no big deal, I recommend contacting the staff just to confirm.