A party with a centrepiece of pyramids built of thousands of drinks cans sounds as though it should be taking place in some avant garde art gallery (and preferably not in a country prone to frequent earth tremors). In fact this one was at one of Tokyo's top hotels and was hosted by the manufacturer of the said cans. Although the Japanese don't really celebrate Christmas they do mark the end of the year with parties, which go by the slightly forlorn name of "bonenkai" - literally "forget the year parties".
It felt as though I'd stepped back 20 years when I walked into this one: in the bubble years in the 1980s and early 1990s extravagant parties were two a penny. These days they're pretty rare, but this is clearly one company that's riding out the economic recession very comfortably: 1200 guests, four giant ice sculptures, chefs dispensing everything from the freshest sushi to the tenderest roast beef and batallions of smiling hostesses to replenish guests' glasses as fast as they emptied.
This felt like a throwback to another age in other ways too. Quite a few people were puffing away at cigarettes - not usually allowed in hotels, so the hosts must have received some special dispensation. And I was one of only about 20 women who was there as a guest rather than a drink-pourer. When I was in Japan in the 1980s I got quite used to being the only foreigner in the room at parties, and the only woman , whereas nowadays I usually have plenty of demographic counterparts to keep me company. In fact the rise of women in business is one of the most welcome changes I've noticed on returning after a 7-year gap - quite a few in middle management, so only a matter of time before they are working their way right to the top.
So the fact that this party felt as though it was taking place in a time warp served as a good reminder that Japan really has changed. And yes, I did resist the temptation to just give a little nudge to the can at the bottom of the pyramid...
Sue Kinoshita
UKTI Japan
Sue.kinoshita@fco.gov.uk