David Cameron "chugged down" wine during a visit to Japan last year, the former Japanese prime minister has revealed. “There is a drinking culture in Japan,” said Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian studies at Temple University, Japan Campus. “In the US and elsewhere, people are much more abstemious. But in Japan, it is not uncommon to drink to the point of inebriation in business situations. It is worth noting that this is a society that generally puts a premium on being extremely careful in terms of what you say and how you act."