My classmates saw me meeting a man, and rumors spread around campus that I’m a papa-katsu girl. Now I feel like I have nowhere to belong at university.

I’m Tetsu, a male member. Whether you quit university or your club activities, nothing will really change. If you’re okay with being isolated, then just embrace it. Criticism is simply envy and resentment. The only reason people criticize you is because they don’t have the courage to do papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan). Don’t worry about what other people say—living life as your true self is the right choice. Relationships at university don’t usually last all that long anyway.

I’m Fuu, a column writer. How would someone directly find out that you’re doing papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan)? Is the imagined scenario something like this? Acquaintance: “Who was that older guy you were walking with?” Questioner: “Oh, him? He’s my papa (a male supporter) from papa-katsu.” Acquaintance: “Ugh, that’s so gross.” *Note: while looking at you as if you were garbage* LOL Wouldn’t you just say he was an uncle or someone connected to your part-time job? Obviously, if someone saw you coming out of a hotel, they might assume you had an intimate relationship. But as long as you weren’t seen at a love hotel, it seems like you could keep the lie going. And if it was in a love-hotel district, wouldn’t the acquaintance have their own reasons for being there too? Would they really call out only the questioner? If all else fails, why not just say he’s an older boyfriend? Honestly, unless you openly say it’s papa-katsu, how would anyone know? These days, female college students work at host clubs and in the adult entertainment industry too. There are surely girls doing papa-katsu as well. Does it really become that big a deal? If this actually happened, here’s my suggestion: if you didn’t have many friends, just put up with people’s looks for a little while. If it’s only a rumor, it’ll disappear as soon as the next interesting story comes along. Or, on the contrary, why not reinvent yourself as a fun, outgoing person and make your “college debut” by saying, “Papa-katsu is actually this much fun!”—become so dazzling that people envy you. Then you could invite your friends to try papa-katsu through your club connections and make a little extra money too. LOL

I’ll answer as Maezawa from the president’s office as well. I don’t really understand why simply being seen with a man would automatically mean it was papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan), or why rumors would spread so far that you’d no longer have a place at your university in this day and age. For all anyone knows, he could have been your uncle, or an older boyfriend. So why would people assume you were doing papa-katsu? There are people in their twenties who date men in their fifties, and some even marry them. So why jump to “papa-katsu”? Wouldn’t you just have to say that it wasn’t? > I’m used to being isolated, if that’s what it comes to. Why are you used to that…? That part also struck me as strange. Being disliked and being isolated aren’t exactly the same thing, but in terms of having no one involved with you, there isn’t much difference. So it seems like you could simply let yourself be isolated. But, then again, if you just said it wasn’t papa-katsu, wouldn’t that settle the matter? That’s the part I don’t really understand.

I’m Nana Ayase ♡ What exactly are people saying about you? “That woman? She’s nothing special”? Or, “Was she getting cozy with some old guy?” If people are saying you’re “nothing special,” why not transform yourself into a real beauty? Nana Ayase may be mature, but I’m often told I look like a sexy woman in her late 30s. The other day, before I even reached the destination for an offer, a sharp-looking man seriously hit on me, and I was really at a loss. So? You’re curious how I keep looking this good, aren’t you?

I’m Dai, a male member. Why does having dinner or an adult relationship (intimate) with an older man automatically make someone a papa-katsu girl? There are plenty of couples with significant age gaps. In fact, a woman in her late twenties and a man in his late forties recently got married at my workplace. I don’t know how often it really happens, but you often hear about intimate relationships between female university students and professors, don’t you? People around you are only using it as “something to talk about,” so just brush it off and go to university. If you’re thinking of quitting university over something like this, then what was the point of going in the first place?

Aren’t lectures mostly remote these days? You could either just scrape by with the minimum attendance and somehow pass your exams, or get really gorgeous, make everyone jealous, and have people asking, “How do you do papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan)?” I think it’s better to own it and act confident, but since you’re asking for advice here, maybe that’s not so easy for you personality-wise. Unless people have spotted you walking around with lots of different men, you could just say he’s your boyfriend and stick with that. Marika