Regarding medical care;
I have seen some really awful horror stories, both on here and elsewhere, but I have had nothing but good experiences myself. I finally had a medical condition properly diagnosed and treated once I was in Japan. In the US, doctors had just basically never even put forth the effort to even try and properly figure out the problem. In Japan, on an unrelated trip to the doctor, I mentioned it offhand - was properly diagnosed, received the proper medication, and like magic the problem was under control.
I wrote up a lot about the Japanese health system and personal experiences in here;
http://www.japanforum.com/forum/livi...h-service.html
I also touched on it in this past thread;
http://www.japanforum.com/forum/livi...m-boned-3.html
I`ve dealt with the serious end of the scale, and I feel that not only is Japanese care great, but it would be very VERY hard to convince me to risk the care elsewhere - including the US.