There has been some off-FT discussion about where the next Japan Do should be held, with Nagoya in the running.
I think that is a pretty reasonable suggestion for a "new" place ... some might not feel there is enough to do there, but honestly, as a whole group, at best we usually only work in welcome drinks, a local site seeing walk, a dinner, a day excursion by train. So long as there is food on sticks, a brewery or beer place, and 3am ramen everyone seems to go away happy. Plus there is that weird Seattle hommage exhibit at the airport!
However, with that criteria I would also suggest Kagoshima could work, (museums, local sites, a hot sand burial excursion 1 hr away by train, ferry to volcano with day trip onsens, local delicacies of black pork, beef, and chicken sashimi), but it is much less connected and "chain" hotels as FT expects are pretty much non-existent. Every calibre, just not the names we know/expect.