I did it because it's still the 3rd largest economy in the world, and everybody else (at least in my country) are learning Chinese. In 20 years those people are gonna find difficulties in the job-market, because the Chinese are investing heavily and efficiently in teaching people English, while the Japanese luckily aren't.
Learning Japanese is actually a pretty good use of your time.
Also on a side note I'd recommend anyone who thinks that blacks/muslims/latinos/gypsies/polish whoever is in your country are whining too much about casual racism/discrimination, random frisks, etc. To spend some time in Japan, (or China etc. many places out there actually) if you're lucky you might get to experience it yourselves get some greater understanding, it's pretty fascinating really.