Learning Japanese--School

Right now im takeing japanese in school and know the basics and basic conversation.
I wondering if Japanese would be the best language for me to learn. There's a giant culture out there that i want to be in but i need to know Japanese. Or, could i instead of wasteing a couple years of my life and take a different language? Say French or German, because those are most likly thought of to the average English speaking person when somebody else speaks about languages. I need to know because i like japanese but am not sure if i will ever need to use it (go there, meet japanese people etc..).

>>3
no point, china are making English one of their national languages by 2011, so by the time you have mastered Chinese well enough to use it in business it will be too late =(