How much do Japanese men and women pay on dates? Survey finds large gap

Big spenders bump up one gender’s average.

It’s true that you can’t buy love, but it’s also true that it’s hard to get someone to open their heart if you’re never willing to open your wallet for them. Assuming you and your sweetheart don’t spend all your time together scavenging for nuts and berries in the forest and composing poetry to one another, at some point you’re going to accrue some dating expenses.

Japanese research organization LeadingTech took a look at how much Japanese people spend on their dates, and the recently released results show a pretty big gap between men and women. Collecting data from 1,200 respondents showed that men spend and average of 6,805 yen (US$66) on a date, while for women the amount is less than half of that, at 2,612 yen.

However, a closer look at the response breakdown shows that the men’s average is pumped up by some especially big spenders, as the largest group is actually guys paying somewhere in the 5,000-6,000 yen range.

● Amount spent by men per date
1. 5,000-6,000 yen (35.7 percent)
2. 10,000-11,000 yen (22 percent)
3. 3,000-4,000 yen (11 percent)
4. More than 15,000 yen (7.1 percent)
5. 2,000-3,000 yen (6.6 percent)

Women’s date spending, on the other hand, was clustered much more closely at the lower end of the spectrum, with only three percent in the 10,000-11,000 range and 0.6 percent in the over-15,000 club.

● Amount spent by women per date
1. Under 1,000 yen (25.7 percent)
2. 3,000-4,000 yen (20 percent)
3. 2,000-3,000 yen (18.6 percent)
4. 5,000-6,000 yen (15.5 percent)
5. 1,000-2,000 yen (10.5 percent)

The designation for the largest female demographic might have you wondering what sort of extra thrifty dates they’re planning. Odds are, though, that the members of that group who’re paying more than nothing but less than 1,000 yen are sharing the cost of the date with their boyfriend. As a matter of fact, that’s likely the case for almost all of the respondents, both men and women, since 81.3 percent said both they and their partner chip in, though often with the guy paying a larger proportion.

● Who pays for your dates?
1. Man pays most, but not all, of the cost a date (50.4 percent)
2. We split the cost evenly (30.1 percent)
3. Man pays all of the cost (17.8 percent)
4. Woman pays all of the cost (0.9 percent)
5. Woman pays most, but not all, of the cost (0.8 percent)

Of course, as mentioned above, there’s no price tag for romance, and part of forming a long-lasting relationship is a couple deciding how to collectively manage their spending a way that makes the two of them specifically, happy. But if you’re looking for a baseline as you enter the dating world in Japan, the survey results are a good guide to know how much cash to have on hand early on in the relationship.

Source: LeadingTech via Career Connection via Hachima Kiko
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