I personally agree with you, man. But it's not the first time I've hear that Japanese take some offense from refusing invitations to this kind of meeting. Either way, I don't believe it's a matter of life or death either.Sure if you want to join the party you can just drink non-alcoholic drinks and I'm sure no one will mind. However if you just don't like going to drinking parties for whatever reason, I'm sure that other people will respect that too. What I meant to say is, I don't think "never say no to an invitation" is good advice. Just give your reasons so that no one's offended.