I still know quite a bit of Japanese -- I used to know several hundred Kanji and everything. I still know most of the basic script (hiragana/katakana).
I went for Japanese because I was interested in Anime -- particularly the songs -- at the time. I listened to a lot of J-pop and Anime songs in Japanese. For those unfamiliar, in Japan they have respectable pop songs for intro/exit credits for Anime (cartoon) series. They are aimed more at adults than children.
Japanese is atonal, and it is much easier to learn than Chinese, at least for me. For one thing, Chinese doesn't have a "basic" script like hiragana which is only 46 simple characters, similar to our alphabet. Instead of each standing for a letter, each one stands for a consonant/vowel combination (syllable). You can write *everything* in hiragana only, but you'd look like a 1st grader who doesn't know his Kanji yet :)
Matthew