While Japan has no tradition of high-priced events for the wealthy to raise money for charity, expatriate communities here regularly lay on glitzy, high-profile parties as a means of raising money for the less fortunate.

In many cases, however, a large amount, if not all, of the money generated by sales of high-priced tickets is going to fund the extravagant parties themselves, with the amount donated to charity often depending on cash generated on the night through raffles and auctions.

Some partygoers have expressed their dissatisfaction at the way in which the ticket money is being used, while one party organizer has said that some guests bid, for show, on the night for items in the auctions and then cancel the charges on their credit cards the next day.