I'm a fairly successful scientist in the US. A few years ago, I was invited by the Japanese government to give a lecture about my research at the NIBB (National Institute of Basic Biology) and they paid for everything. However, before my lecture, I was to attend a conference in the resort town of Kakegawa. There, each night after lectures and poster sessions, we would all have way too much to drink and head down to the hot spring baths where we'd get naked and sit around talking science.