Meanwhile, a Japanese guy told me that Japanese men are changing. Hmmmm. He then told me when it came to cooking he could boil water! However, I hold out a bit of hope for him seeing as his sister is pretty high up on the old career ladder (admittedly she lives here in London!), so he’s grown up with the knowledge that women aren’t just there to put the dinner on the table.

Japan does hold an appeal for the more regressive western male, of course. I abhor the eating when your food comes and not waiting for everyone else, but as you say it is cultural. I was more shocked when, on my first full day in Japan, another American trainer told us that in Japan you just start eating when your meal arrives, then proceeded to tuck in. I would forgive that in a Japanese person, but in this case it seemed like an overblown sexist pig making the most of being out of his comfort zone. In fact whenever I’ve had meals with Japanese people, both in Japan and here in London, they’ve waited till all our meals have arrived.