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While New York women hoping to bag themselves an investment banker have seen the pool of potentials tragically dry up, take a moment to spare a thought for the girls in Tokyo—at least the ones whose lives revolved around dating Wall Streeters who'd been transferred to work in the city's Roppongi Hills complex. Now, as 25-year-old Haruna Hiraki gloomily says to her friend at a bar that had once been a prime spot: "I told you this place was finished. Lehman, Goldman: They've all been sacked or gone back to America."

Even sadder: The men who remain are finding they can no longer walk into a bar and instantly command the rapt attention of copious golddiggers, who are now wise to the fact that an American banker boyfriend isn't an instant passport to a life of luxury. One 38-year-old fund manager rues:

"First, from our point of view, the girls have got the message that Wall Street capitalism is in trouble and the sharper ones are just not bothering to turn up. But worse is that they don't trust us any more. We've still got the nice suits and the job in finance—just about—but these chicks are smart. They know we don't carry the financial guarantees we used to."

One such smart chick, 33-year-old Taeko Hiroguchi, nostalgically recalls living with a guy who was a trader at Lehman: "[I] helped him spend his 2005 bonus. These Bulgari earrings were a present from him. Even if we were still going out, there would be no bonus this year though, right?"

Japanese say goodbye to Western playboys [Times UK]