Expanded roles for chairside assistants, infrequent use of amalgam, and dental technician courses over-subscribed by three to one. Perhaps this isn't the classic image of the advanced society that Japan has become over the last 40 years, yet the dentists working and researching in this economic spearhead were full of enthusiasm for their profession. On our journey to the far east we would be greeted with many surprises, especially in dental practice and hygienist education.