Date； 2007.11.04(Sun)
Men pay less
Men pay less
In cafes and restaurants, ever notice how same-sex groups do this polite little dance in front of the cash register, each insisting on picking up the tab? Well, the same goes for male/female groups, and more often now women will end up paying more, especially if they're single professionals over 30. Men assume they have more income at their disposal (which is true), but have little idea that these women long for the coveted “Onanoko adzukai” (to be treated like a girl), where a night out means a romantic dinner, a drink at a nice bar afterward, And then ocutte moray (be taken home) in a cab all paid for by the man.
My friend Motoko (32) says with a huff: "Dating? I don't even know the meaning of the term. "Motoko, who, like so many other Japanese women is enmeshed in the ties of an
(Illicit) relationship with a married man, says any meals she has out now are with kaisha no hitotachi (people from the office) or, more rarely, with her otoko tomodachi (guy friends).
Either way, the tab is strictly warikan (split equally). Sure, her boyfriend comes over once a week and they may order out for a pizza or sushi, but he has only a few hours before making it home on the shuden (last train). Motoko says they've already taken on the semblance of an old married couple: They complain about work (shigoto no guchi o iiau) while eating together in front of the TV and drink beer out of cans until it's time for him to go home. Who pays for the beer? Etiquette prevented me from asking.
In cafes and restaurants, ever notice how same-sex groups do this polite little dance in front of the cash register, each insisting on picking up the tab? Well, the same goes for male/female groups, and more often now women will end up paying more, especially if they're single professionals over 30. Men assume they have more income at their disposal (which is true), but have little idea that these women long for the coveted “Onanoko adzukai” (to be treated like a girl), where a night out means a romantic dinner, a drink at a nice bar afterward, And then ocutte moray (be taken home) in a cab all paid for by the man.
My friend Motoko (32) says with a huff: "Dating? I don't even know the meaning of the term. "Motoko, who, like so many other Japanese women is enmeshed in the ties of an
(Illicit) relationship with a married man, says any meals she has out now are with kaisha no hitotachi (people from the office) or, more rarely, with her otoko tomodachi (guy friends).
Either way, the tab is strictly warikan (split equally). Sure, her boyfriend comes over once a week and they may order out for a pizza or sushi, but he has only a few hours before making it home on the shuden (last train). Motoko says they've already taken on the semblance of an old married couple: They complain about work (shigoto no guchi o iiau) while eating together in front of the TV and drink beer out of cans until it's time for him to go home. Who pays for the beer? Etiquette prevented me from asking.