How much does it cost to go on a date with a famous Japanese idol or model?

It’s an open secret that “compensated dating” (援助交際, enjo kosai) is common in the Japanese idol world, even among mainstream entertainers and celebrities.

Just as the casting couch exists, so too does the dating table. Idols don’t earn that much money and their careers are fickle, so they boost their income with dates.

There doesn’t always sex involved, it should be added, but it’s surely not impossible. It’s like a hostess “dohan” date (where the hostess accompanies you for dining before going to the club together) or services offered by “dating clubs” (交際クラブ, kosai kurabu), where the women expect some kind of compensation for their time.

Sometimes this gets exposed. The porn star Yuria Satomi found herself in trouble with the tax bureau due to ¥200 million in undeclared income over several years, apparently accrued from “boyfriends” who were paying her. The gravure idol Shoko Takasaki was caught receiving money for a date that ended with a trip to a love hotel. It was only shocking because it got into the press. She rode the wave of the scandal all the way to become Shoko Takahashi, now one of the top adult video stars in Japan.

A Japanese TV show once shared some industry estimates for how much a dinner date costs with certain idols.

The names were only represented by initials (in Japanese name order), but these in combination with the descriptions are enough to give the game away.

SA (entertainer who made AV debut, Anri Sakaguchi): ¥200,000
TN (idol who caused trouble by marrying and divorcing, maybe Nana Tanimura): ¥500,000
IM (former Olympic athlete Mero Imai): ¥150,000
KA (former female announcer, perhaps Asami Konno or Ayako Kato): ¥1.2 million
MY (gravure idol famous for plastic surgery Yuuri Morishita): ¥300,000
AK (“pure”-type actress, Kasumi Arimura): ¥10 million
HS (loli-type gravure idol, Shoko Hamada): ¥250,000
MM (member of nationally famous idol group, Minami Minegishi): ¥400,000
K (gorgeous sisters, Kano Sisters): ¥2 million
ON (“healing”-type celebrity, Nonoka Ono): ¥1 million
AK (super popular AV star, Kirara Asuka): ¥2 million
WN (chubby entertainer, Naomi Watanabe): ¥200,000
YY (talented actress who took her clothes off long ago, Yuriko Yoshitaka): ¥1 million
IM (“orthodox”-type beautiful actress, maybe Misaki Ito or Mao Inoue or Mio Imada): ¥2.5 million

The prices seem a little low for, say, Watanabe, considering what a big (no pun) star she is, but maybe paying for a date with her is a little different to paying her to endorse your brand in an advertising campaign. Besides, perhaps the fee is lower because the cost of the food consumed will be disproportionately higher when she’s ordering!