For leisure, learning languages is always a good alternative. For daily life, learning the local language is quite important to fit into the local society. For personal development, learning a language is key to understand the local culture, because languages are not only composed by translated words connected together by grammatical rules, but also composed by gestures, manners and local customs.
Japanese language and the culture of the country it self have thousands of followers around the world. Several have posted very interesting material over the WEB. Next I am posting some links to sites that I have visited, which can help beginners to enjoy their Nihongo lessons and in general their life in Japan.