Popular Female YouTuber R-chan Has Signed Up, Too… A Thorough Investigation of the Leading Company Behind the Now-Widespread “Paid Drinking Apps”

Experiencing “paid drinking” using two popular apps

Once a pastime limited to a select few and arranged solely through personal connections, “paid drinking parties” have now firmly established themselves as a market. Behind this trend is the rise of dedicated apps. It is said that nearly 20 such apps currently exist, and the market is becoming increasingly segmented into categories such as “women aged 25 and under,” “women aged 30 and over,” and “erotic drinking parties.”

The largest player in this market is “pato.” Since its launch in 2017, it has amassed a total of 17,000 registered “cast members” and facilitated over 750,000 matches. In November 2025, the company appointed YouTuber R-chan as its CBO (Chief Branding Officer).Furthermore, in April of this year, R-chan announced in a video titled “I’m Short on Money, So I’m Going to Work on pato” that she would register as a cast member herself. While this series of posts has drawn criticism each time, it also suggests that paid drinking events are becoming increasingly commonplace.

However, there have also been several incidents related to “paid drinking” to date. Between November and December 2022, a male company executive and others were arrested on suspicion of, among other things, spiking drinks with stimulants during “paid drinking” sessions at a bar in Minato Ward and a hotel in Bunkyo Ward to render the women dazed, and then committing lewd acts against two women in their 20s.In May of this year, a video was posted on social media showing women participating in “paid drinking” events being made to perform group gymnastics while completely naked and having champagne poured on them, sparking a massive backlash—and there is no end to such dubious stories.

So, what kind of women are registered on these “paid drinking” apps? I registered on both “pato” and “aima”—considered the second-most popular app—and met women one-on-one to test out both platforms. In this [Part 1], I’ll introduce the women I met through “pato.”

Let’s start with “pato.” As soon as I logged into the app, messages from women started pouring in one after another. Many of them had the look of “typical Minato Ward girls,” and their rates for drinking together were close to 20,000 yen per 30 minutes. They gave off a very “professional” impression.After exchanging messages with a few of them, I chose a 24-year-old woman who seemed like a good fit. The deciding factor was that she didn’t really come across as the typical “paid drinking companion.”

The interview pass rate for registered women is 10%

Let me briefly explain how the system works. “pato” operates on a points system: men purchase points in advance within the app and use them to make payments. Payments are made exclusively by credit card; there is absolutely no cash exchange. Men are also required to submit identification documents upon registration.For one-on-one meetings, the women set their own rates, with the going rate ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 yen for 30 minutes. The minimum session length is one hour, after which it automatically extends in 30-minute increments.

The woman who showed up at the meeting spot had a modern look with wide, expressive eyes. She arrived before the agreed-upon time and was already waiting at our table. Her rate was 7,500 yen for 30 minutes, which comes to exactly 30,000 yen for two hours.

To register as a cast member on “pato,” you must pass an interview, and the acceptance rate is said to be around 10 percent. But what surprised me most about her wasn’t her appearance—it was her conversational skills. She talked about herself and asked me questions in return. There was almost none of the awkwardness typical of a first meeting. It really made me think she was worth it, having made it through that narrow gate with a 10 percent acceptance rate.

She said she got started through a friend’s referral. She had suddenly quit her previous job and was looking for a quick way to make money while she waited to find her next one.

“I got quite a few offers. When you calculate it by the hour, it pays much better than a part-time job. But I actually thought that was kind of risky.”

She’s been doing this for two months. However, she says she’s quitting this month.

“I thought I shouldn’t get used to this world.”

“I was just exhausted. I met so many strangers in such a short time. Plus, the hourly rate was too good—I thought I shouldn’t get used to this line of work. My company might find out, and I didn’t really understand the tax implications. I felt the risks were too high.”

When asked how much she earned in two months, she said roughly 1.5 million yen. Her initial rate was 15,000 yen per hour, and after commissions were deducted, her take-home pay was about 10,000 yen per hour. Assuming a take-home pay of 30,000 yen per three-hour session, a simple calculation suggests she completed nearly 50 such sessions.She packed her schedule from noon until night, and there were even days when she stayed out until morning. She said she had even lowered her rate to around 5,000 yen for 30 minutes just to secure offers.

“I was just happy to get any offer at all.”

While she was able to make money, she also had some scary experiences.

“There was a time when I thought it was a one-on-one meeting, but it turned out to be a large group. Also, the scariest time was when I was called to a private room at a members-only bar—I didn’t even know the name of the place.”

She also voiced frustration that younger clients tend to leave scheduling until the last minute.

“Until they contact me, I have no choice but to keep my schedule open and wait. I felt like I was being used for their convenience.”

When asked if she’d encountered any strange clients, she replied immediately, “Absolutely.”

She said she really disliked so-called “party-style” settings where people get rowdy playing drinking games. In fact, she noted that older partners tended to be kinder and more composed. While she used to date people her own age, she now finds that men between 28 and 40 are a better fit for her. When asked why, she explained, “They’re calm and have a sense of ease.”

Even though communicating outside the app is prohibited by the terms of service, she was matter-of-fact about it: “If he’s a nice guy, I’ll exchange LINE IDs with him.” Meeting directly without going through the app offers financial benefits for both parties.This is because women avoid having 20–30 percent of their earnings deducted by the platform, and men avoid paying the higher rates. The financial burden on men is particularly heavy when it comes to extending dates, as the rate per 30 minutes jumps to 1.3 times the standard rate.

So, what kind of relationship can develop after exchanging LINE IDs?

“If we were to meet directly, I’d ask for 10,000 yen per hour.”

Even outside the app, the rate is determined by the hourly wage. Her take-home pay for this encounter was just over 10,000 yen. Since she’s not going through the app operator, she naturally doesn’t want her take-home pay to go down—that’s only logical. This “pay-per-hour” mindset, so typical of women in the “gala-nomu” scene, doesn’t seem to change even when the relationship becomes personal.

In [Part 2], we’ll go into detail about my experience meeting a woman I matched with on “aima,” considered the second-most popular app.

A 25-Year-Old, demure-looking woman I matched with on a “paid drinking” app… stunned the reporter with a “surprisingly unexpected remark”