There seem to be an unusually large number of men in their 20s on papa-katsu apps lately—possibly even more than older men.

I’m Fuu, a column writer. There seem to be a lot of people in their 20s. Dating apps are basically lawless: no ID verification and no interviews, so in a sense, anything goes. People often lie about their age too, since there’s no age-checking feature. Of course, some people are genuinely looking for a papa-katsu arrangement, and some understand what papa-katsu is. But with scams and people disappearing after getting intimate, there’s no real way to track them down, so that kind of behavior is probably common. For reference, here are some women’s columns from this club’s website: “True Papa-Katsu Case Files ③: An Outrageous Date Through a Papa-Katsu App” https://universe-club.jp/female/jikenbo3/ “I Was Deceived Through Papa-Katsu! My Worst Experience—Missing Out on the Money” https://universe-club.jp/female/cheated/ I don’t know whether the number of younger members at the club is increasing. Apparently, as papa-katsu has become more widespread, the number of male members has gone up. Lastly, you criticized older men, but the generation that went through the difficult postwar years before Japan’s period of rapid economic growth would be in their 90s now（笑). Japan became considerably more affluent after that. The club’s main members, men in their 40s and 50s, experienced the bubble economy, which was even more extravagant than things are today. I think the person you know just happens to be stingy.

Maezawa from the President’s Office here with some answers as well. > Do you think people are registering because they understand papa-katsu now that it’s become more widely known, or not? I think they understand it and are active on apps and so on. > I’m wondering whether younger guys might sometimes be more generous, and whether they’re worth targeting. Apparently, male college students in their 20s are doing it too, offering around ¥15,000–¥30,000. Well, they’re students, so I suppose it can’t be helped if they pay less. If anything, though, it seems they’re relying on their youth and assuming they can get away with paying less because they’re young. In practice, that does seem to be the case. There are also many women who want an allowance but only want to meet men in their 20s. Since men in their 20s may offer ¥30,000, men registered with Universe who only offer that much seem to be at a disadvantage now. Maybe they simply aren’t aware of these changes in society. Men in their 30s who say, “I’m young, so it’s fine if I pay less, right?” should probably realize that, compared with men in their 20s, they’re already considered older. That said, if you’re asking whether they’re worth targeting, I think it’s difficult to say. With apps, no one is keeping their identification documents on file, so there are many people who try to scam others. I’ve heard that quite a few men say they’ll pay after it’s over, then run off afterward. > Maybe older men are less generous because growing up in poor postwar households instilled a fear of letting go of money in them. There are generous people too, though.

I’m Shingo Lee, a column writer. In the pickup-artist community, people have conducted all kinds of research and experiments on how to approach women effectively. A lot of research has also gone into using papa-katsu apps to have sex with papa-katsu girls without paying, and I think that’s one reason more women in their twenties are joining. Just to be clear, “having sex without paying” doesn’t mean deceiving anyone. It means analyzing the women, taking an approach that suits them, or identifying and approaching potential groups who may be receptive. My knowledge comes strictly from observing rather than practicing, so I can’t give you detailed answers. As for how generously wealthy people spend, I think rich people tend to want to control their own money and avoid unexpected expenses. By contrast, younger people these days seem to place more value on engagement than money. As a result, they may appear more generous than the people who hired me.

I’m Taro, a male member. If someone grew up in a poor household after the war, they’d have been born in the 1940s and would be in their seventies or eighties by now. Men who are “middle-aged” in the usual sense and have a decent amount of money understand its value. So rather than being stingy or influenced by postwar memories, maybe they’re simply looking closely at the value a woman brings. Of course, everyone is different, so you can’t generalize—but if you’ve met a fair number of men through a dating club and felt that all of them were stingy, there’s a good chance you aren’t offering much value yourself. If you have no intention of changing, you’d be better off switching to a strategy of looking for easy marks. I mean men who get some unexpected money, get carried away, and start acting flashy. But if you want to catch that kind of guy, your best fishing ground isn’t dating apps or dating clubs—it’s the nightlife industry. You probably won’t be able to compete in that world, but the fishing ground itself is good, so even if you’re near the bottom, you might get lucky and reel in an easy mark by hanging around. Anyway, good luck.

I’m Paper Airplane, a male member. Oh, Kai-san, you sound like a very calculating man. Apparently, you even attended one of the former Big Three commercial universities… I’m an older man who’s not exactly flush, but back when I was in my twenties, it was an era when opportunities to meet people were fairly easy to find if you went looking for them. At the time, a man who was still unmarried at 30 was viewed as somewhat unusual. I don’t think people often paid money to meet someone back then, either. Compared with those days, we now live in an era where people are very accustomed to paying for something in order to get something in return, so they may be more willing to offer compensation without much hesitation. On the other hand, men today may not be all that accustomed to treating someone on a date the way they used to be. And if relatively few men are experienced at dating in the first place, which way do you think it’ll go?