Did you study the culture of Japan or the language? And yes it does sound like you were hoping for some kind of extraordinary event which probably made it all

Did you study the culture of Japan or the language? And yes it does sound like you were hoping for some kind of extraordinary event which probably made it all the more unlikely that you were going to find that travel nirvana. Whereas I am guessing you had no expectation in Brazil and were pleasantly surprised. I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience though I stand by my statement to each their own. Tough to compare societies/populations/cultures based on a sample size of one.