Would you go to the zoo or aquarium with your papa? When I invite him shopping, he changes the subject and suggests the zoo or aquarium instead. I don't really like animals—they just smell—and I don't really understand the appeal of simply walking around looking at fish either. When I said I wasn't really interested, he invited me to play golf or go camping instead... I can understand wanting to get outside now that the weather is nice, but I'm not really enthusiastic about it. Do you think there are women in papa-katsu who would be happy to be invited to the zoo or aquarium?

I’m in Seattle. He just doesn’t want to spend money shopping. Instead of asking for an allowance, try telling him to buy you up to ¥○○,000 worth of things—he might come.

I’m Maezawa from the CEO’s office, and I’ll answer this one too. > Even when I invite her shopping, she changes the subject and asks, “How about the zoo or an aquarium?” I feel like she might go if you said, “Let’s go shopping—I’ll pay for my own things.” It seems she simply doesn’t want to go because “let’s go shopping” has become synonymous with “buy me something.” If you genuinely want to enjoy shopping itself, you should be able to enjoy it even if you’re paying for your own things. But I suspect the real goal is to have someone buy things for her. That means only the woman has fun, while the man doesn’t, so he has no reason to go. But there are women who do get taken shopping, right? That’s because, from the man’s perspective, he finds the woman so endearing that he reaches the point of saying, “Is there anything you want? I’ll buy it for you.” So I think you need to figure out how to make her see you as endearing. There may even be a hint in this particular situation. > She changes the subject and asks, “How about the zoo or an aquarium?” If you responded enthusiastically, like: “The zoo? Come to think of it, I haven’t been in ages, so I’d love to go! Which zoo should we visit? I’m looking forward to it!” you might come across as cute. You could even add something like: “I’ve never seen a wombat before, so I’d love to see one. A friend told me they’re in Australia. Apparently they’re adorable. I’ve never seen one in person, though…” That may be gilding the lily, but I think this sort of thing could work. You can’t take her to Australia right now, but since there are wombats in Japan too, you could say, “Why don’t we go see them here?” Also, if she’s delighted every single time, I think the man will have fun too. If she responds happily to every suggestion with, “Yes, I want to! Let’s do it!” then eventually he may be the one saying, “Shall we go shopping?” For starters, try answering every suggestion from the man with “Yes” or “Absolutely,” and show your whole-hearted excitement about the fact that he made the suggestion. It might be worth making that a habit. This is just one example, so there may be better approaches. Keep exploring the way of papa-katsu.

I’m BB7, a male member. > Do you think there are women in papa-katsu who’d be happy to be invited to the zoo or aquarium? There definitely are. Some women have even invited me themselves. On the other hand, only one woman has ever invited me shopping. Do you think there are papas who’d be happy to be invited shopping? I find papas who get excited about being invited shopping more puzzling.

I’m Takei, a member of the staff. Some women who come in for interviews say they’d like to go together to places like zoos, aquariums, or art museums. I understand why you feel that simply going sightseeing with a papa you’ve only recently met wouldn’t be very interesting. If you’re not particularly interested in those kinds of activities, why not be honest and tell him what kind of date you’d actually like to have? Once you’ve grown closer, I also think it’s important to ask what kind of dates he would like. Some women say that although they weren’t interested at first, they came to enjoy something because of their papa’s influence!

I’m Aya, a female member. I’m more of an indoor person, so I don’t really enjoy going out. I feel like zoos might be awkward since they’re probably full of families. Walking around outside would also mean getting sunburned, and my papa (a male supporter) has a somewhat conspicuous appearance, so I thought a dimly lit aquarium might work. But these days, I’m not exactly eager to go somewhere crowded, so it’s difficult. Recently, I accompanied my papa’s young employee while he bought a suit from a certain luxury brand. The brand-name stores in Tokyo were bustling with everyone from young people to middle-aged and older customers, which made me realize there are a lot of wealthy people out there. I even saw someone who looked like a YouTuber. Everyone seemed to be spending freely. Other than that, we often go for drives, visit cafés with terrace seating, or travel to places like Okinawa and Fukuoka and stay at hotels. Maybe you could suggest something specific you’d like to do besides shopping.

I’m Flag Maker, a column writer. Ultimately, the details of a date come down to whether both people’s preferences align, don’t they? Next time, I’m going skydiving with a woman I met here. For some reason, we both happened to choose “skydiving,” lol.

I’m Kaz, a male member. So, you’re more of an indoor person, which means your preferences don’t match those of the papas who want to go out, right? I’ve been invited by a woman I’m seeing to go to an aquarium and a theme park. So I assume she’s a papa-katsu woman who’d be happy to be invited to places like zoos and aquariums. By the way, I’m an indoor person too, so I’m not particularly enthusiastic about aquariums or theme parks. Still, I feel I should at least accommodate her wish to visit an aquarium.

I’m Paper Airplane, a male member. No papa would be unhappy about being invited shopping by a woman. It wouldn’t be fun spending time with a papa who doesn’t want to go out, right…? Ideally, the woman should be the one to suggest going out.