Brett, from reading your posts for the past several months, it seems one of the things you wouldn't or couldn't do for a relationship was to leave Japan behind.
Life goes on, and to be so focused on that experience you had (and she didn't have) means you can't focus on life here, the future or relationships with special people here.
I'm not saying this to be mean, but merely to point out that even if you go back to Japan now, you might find yourself very disappointed...what if you find your friends, drinking buddies, etc have moved on with their lives? (Like when you tried calling them the other weekend and no one was around....)
Look around you, talk and really listen to people HERE...you might find it's not an awful place...you might find you're a happier person and you might find someone who would be very happy in a relationship with you.
Japan was a wonderful place you lived, and the experiences are something you can learn from, but don't let it continue to consume your life and cause you to miss out on some truly remarkable experiences and relationships here!

she speaks the lucid truth

So I was being a bit grandiose in saying I'd do anything for her.

But just to be sure, I did, in fact, come home from Japan, and leave it behind, when I very easily could have done the exact opposite and stayed there had I truly desired to.

Think about that for a minute.

The least I can do--for myself--is cling to something that is hopeful and comforting to me, which is my memory of Japan, my memory of Sara, etc.

Also, I never said America was an awful place, nor that I have no friends here. I guess I'm not sure where you're getting that from. I've probably said many, many more negative things about Japan in this blog than Lincoln. I love Lincoln.

I'm not as focused on Japan as you might think. My writing on this blog is Japan-centric, but that only follows from the origins of this site, and doesn't mean that I'm obsessing over it, or dwelling on it to the point that I am missing experiences or relationships here. On the contrary. I love it here, and often tell people that when they ask me what's different about Lincoln and Tokyo. I love Lincoln, I also love Tokyo. They are just very different places.

I've tried to be honest with myself about what happened, and of course I'm not going to write everything down here, but this situation can be painted a lot of ways.

You see it as me being unable to give up Japan, when I think that is a request that no one has any right to ask of me. Would I ask you to give up the greatest moments of your life? Would I ask you to leave them behind?

Of course not.

But don't mistake not giving up Japan for not caring about people in America. When I say I'm not giving it up, I'm simply saying that it is still a part of me, as it would be of anyone in my shoes.

When I stepped off that plane in Omaha on June 25th, do you honestly think I was carrying all the metaphorical baggage of Japan with me? No, I wasn't. I was looking to the future, and to spending it with someone who I had been dreaming of for months. I was prepared to do everything for her, but if my past is something that can't be accepted, then even my best isn't good enough.
...

And also, my friends in Japan did in fact end up answering their phones.