[toyg]

By all means stick to that attitude; the Japanese-speakers will keep making money with Japanese companies.

Note that this is valid for more countries than not: learn the language, and the locals will look on you more favourably. It is still a must to work well in places like France and Italy, for example (albeit less so than 10 years ago).

English is a fallback language, but the preferred option is still the native lingo.