It's hard to be incorrect about an opinion. You want to go to Japan, so be it... Don't let anyone deter you from something that you want to do, but your interest in Japan doesn't invalidate your friends opinions that you might have more fun in Europe.
My "screen name" is Mike Cash because my real name is Mike Cash. I know actually putting one's own name on one's public statements is an oddity on the internet, but I persist in it anyway.