Robbie Williams in no rush to conquer New York

Fresh from winning his 14th Brit Award, Robbie Williams would seem to be a natural export to the top of the US pop charts. But he says he would rather be in Japan.

“I was in New York last week,” said Williams, who visited the Land of the Rising Sun this week to promote his new album.

“They were a really hard audience,” he said. “I was really scared. When I’m in Japan, people are very respectful. It’s very safe and very sweet.”

While he has sold 28 million albums – 10 million in Britain alone – and had a series of number one hits, including Millennium, She’s the One and Rock DJ, Williams has yet to make much noise across the Atlantic.

“A lot has been said about me going to the States, ‘Why hasn’t he broken the States?”’ he said. “I am more excited to be doing something here.”

That meant promoting his album Escapology, which was released in Japan last week, and getting ready to perform a concert in Tokyo.

It was his first trip to Japan in five years.

Williams also took the opportunity of today’s packed news conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan to dismiss another rumour that has been doing the rounds.

He is not going to be the next James Bond.

“They are not interested in me playing James Bond, and I’m not interested in playing James Bond,” he said.

Williams, who has not yet become a household name in Japan, said he was somewhat taken aback by the turnout for his news conference.

“There’s loads of people here,” he said. “Am I the warm-up? Is Michael Jackson on next?”