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It's a very good question. I have just got back from a trip to review meeting facilities in Japan, and, amongst all the hype about China and India, they seem to have been forgotten.

This was my first trip to Japan (other than changing planes there - which my wife says does not count) and I have to say how impressed I was as a location for events.

First, cleanliness. It took me two days to see a piece of litter. Second, safety. I never saw a policeman, and only heard sirens once - of course, it many heave been an ambulance. By the way, their murder rate is 1/10 of the US! The total crime rate is 1/4 that of the US. Third, efficiency. every time I doubted their ability to do something like deliver luggage to the right location, I was proved wrong. Fourth, friendliness. Yes, they are a little formal, but very open and accepting of our informality! Fifth, facilities. From the large cities of Tokyo and Osaka down to the smaller convention cities, they are geared up to receive groups from 50 - 5,000.

Issues? Costs. Let's get this one up front, with the $ at about Y100 again, this is not a cheap place - move away from Tokyo for better deals on everything. Language. English is widely, if inexpertly spoken, and to get up to a rudimentary level in Japanese would take a huge effort. But, I would say that is no different in China.

Although our goods may now be manufactured in China, a lot of this activity is controlled from Japan. Ignore Japan at your peril!