I’m a female member.

I’m Flag Maker, a columnist. I’d want to hold the sharp end of a broken disposable chopstick right near the man’s eye and say: “Are you taking me for a fool!?” I love yakuza movies, and I’d just finished watching *The Blood of Wolves II*, so forgive me. Ryohei Suzuki’s yakuza character was terrifying enough to leave me traumatized. If that yakuza were the one dealing with him, I’m sure he’d be jamming the chopstick straight into the other guy’s eye. Now, to give a proper answer: in my view, even that “bad feeling” is part of the setup. If the worst date can become material for a funny story later, you can turn it into a valuable, meaningful experience. Why not switch your perspective that way? That’s what I do when I have a terrible date.

Maezawa from the CEO’s Office here as well. That’s awful. I feel like a bad feeling is usually right. Once a date has been confirmed, you can’t cancel it, so in this case, you might want to consult the staff. That said, I’m worried your position may actually become weaker, since many staff members tend to side with the men. Still, having an izakaya as the venue for a first meeting is pretty disappointing. Unlike compensated dating for money, I thought papa-katsu (compensated dating in Japan) was about enjoying a meal as well as an adult relationship (intimate). But it seems that wasn’t the case this time, which is upsetting. I understand that you can’t cancel, but can’t something be done? If you say that, they might do something for you. However, if the staff member sides with the male member, they may simply tell you: “The man is free to choose how he wants to arrange the date, so there’s nothing we can do.” You’ll probably also be offered a low allowance for an adult relationship (intimate), so it may be best to keep the full four hours open, then, once dinner at the izakaya is over, take 5,000–10,000 yen and leave right away. Still, what is wrong with staff these days? They’re exchanging messages about the arrangements—in this case, things like where the reservation is—but they don’t give the man any advice. I understand that if they did, the man might get furious, so I can see why they think avoiding conflict is the safest approach. Even so, I think they should still say what needs to be said. Although, I suppose it must be difficult when someone gets angry and demands to speak to the manager. > I don’t think it’s possible that there was no restaurant… If you think about it normally, he was simply being cheap. (笑) P.S. > I thought the date wasn’t officially confirmed until the date and location were set and the woman agreed. That understanding is correct. Since it said “a major station where even the Shinkansen stops,” I assumed the meeting place and date had already been decided, and that the man had messaged you saying, “I’ve reserved an izakaya for then.” I wouldn’t have thought he would reserve a restaurant before the date was finalized, though.

I’m Paper Airplane, a male member. This sounds almost like a young woman asking for advice about a dating-for-marriage date. Apparently, quite a few men only book places like that even for a first date—and that includes doctors, too. So the restaurant your partner booked was the kind of place you’d expect a young guy these days to choose?? It is surprising, but I doubt he’s planning on splitting the bill like a young man would… I’m not sure why, but maybe those are simply the only kinds of places he can think of… Some girls are big drinkers and prefer going to izakayas because they feel more comfortable there.

I’m Nana Ayase ☆ For my first meeting, we had dinner at a hotel, but the second time, we went to a place called New München in Umeda, Osaka ♡ It was a restaurant where you ate fried chicken with your hands while drinking beer by the mug. I was a little surprised Σ(ﾟдﾟ；) But the dark beer was delicious ♡♡♡ I still remember how tasty the fried chicken was. If it’s from the second meeting onward, that’s one thing, but if it happened on the first meeting, I’d be pretty surprised. It would give me nothing but a bad feeling.

I’m Date◎Yume, a male member. Haha! Sounds like you’re having quite an experience with the dating club（笑） Well, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that... If it develops into a relationship, you’ll probably be able to laugh about it later. It would be wonderful if you two became close enough to laugh about it together...

I’m Dai, a male member. Do you mean she asked in advance which restaurant you had reserved? There are certainly wealthy people who aren’t particular about food, so that doesn’t necessarily mean the allowance will be low.

I’m Kazu, a male member. I don’t think there’s any deeper meaning—the man probably just wants to spend about that much on the meal. Since that’s only the amount he’s willing to spend on dinner, we can’t tell whether he’s also strict about how much he’ll spend on an allowance. If you have a bad feeling about it, I think it’s perfectly fine to decline. Adding this after reading Maezawa’s answer: > You can’t cancel once the date has been confirmed. I had always understood that a date wasn’t confirmed until the date and location were set and the woman had agreed. However, if you replied with something like “Okay,” then I suppose the date is indeed confirmed. In that case, I think you should just accept it and go with your expectations lowered to transportation costs. That said, since the offer is for a Shinkansen station you’re unfamiliar with, the man may be planning to cover the Shinkansen fare and other expenses. So I’m starting to feel that he may not actually be stingy. Also, since he’s paying both the setting fee and the round-trip Shinkansen fare, he probably wants to reach an agreement on the allowance as well. There’s a chance he may be somewhat flexible.