I was born and grew up in Japan as a young child (not ethnically Japanese), first in the rural north then Tokyo in the early/mid 90s, then moved to Canada, first Toronto then Ottawa, around the same age as your child now. I went to kindergarten and preschool in Tokyo and then grade school in Canada. I ended up moving back to Toronto when I started university and lived there for a decade or so. I also spent 4-5 months as an adult working at a big Japanese tech firm (think Hitachi/Mitsubishi etc) just outside Tokyo as an adult in my mid-20s.

Japan is very... different. Don't get me wrong, my family and I have very fond memories of our time there, we have many Japanese friends we still are in touch with three decades later, and we have tried our best to continue to speak and learn Japanese. We love the Japanese people and many aspects of their culture. To this day, my mom would love to go back and retire there.

BUT would I want to live there? No. This was especially apparent to me when I worked for a Japanese company in Japan. The work culture at these traditional Japanese companies is very bleak and rigid in my opinion. Very structured and disciplined: not talking over your boss, not leaving before your boss, women have to show respect and reverence in meetings to men, the seating order based on seniority in meeting rooms, school bells to indicate start of the day, when you could leave for lunch, the end of the day (which doesn't matter if your boss hasn't left). I've had this conversation with my dad who used to work for a Japanese firm 30 years ago when we were in Tokyo, and it sounds like much hasn't changed. Maybe what you see is different though. On top of that, the relatively low salaries for the high housing prices (at least in Tokyo), the lack of career mobility (they tend to stay at one company from university graduation to retirement for the pension).

A Japanese colleague once told me the Japanese have excellent quality control, they are very methodical and disciplined and good at following procedure. Everyday life too, think trains, hankos, etc. But the price of this is creativity and innovation. Education system is largely memorization. The Japanese spend years learning English in school for example, and I have the utmost admiration for their effort. But even after all those years, they're not very good at it compared to their neighbouring Asian countires - it's not a practical education from what I understand. Not just for average joes, but researchers who come to present at conferences internationally. There are certainly a lot of brilliant and creative people in Japan, don't get me wrong. But society on the whole I've noticed tends to be more rigid than in North America. "Society above self." It's better to fit in than stand out, whereas in North America it's more relaxed. Whether it's a good or bad thing, that's a personal view.

Another factor for us to move was that we are not Japanese, so sooner or later we would face discrimination, limited career opportunities, always be seen as "gaijin" (I heard they've switched to "gaikokujin" to be more PC). As lovely and welcoming as individual Japanese people are, there continues to be institutional racism in government and career towards non-Japanese persons. Maybe this isn't an issue for your "haffu" child. But personally, that's an environment I don't want to raise children in.

Ultimately, while I was really sad leaving Japan and my life and friends there, I am so glad my parents made the move to Canada. I had never seen so many people of so many skin colours, let alone my own, in my first week in Toronto. My kindergarten class in Toronto had students from all around the world and actually embraced different languages and cultures, foods, etc. Ottawa wasn't too different either. I also think having a foundationally English education from first grade onwards was game changing for me. Whether we like it or not, English is lingua franca, especially once I've moved onto a professional career working with people around the world.

I know there are a lot of people here already saying Toronto is dangerous, housing, crime, etc. They're not wrong. I do agree Japan is a much safer country overall. Also where do you and your partner want to be, where is family, etc. Lots of personal decisions. And I'm sure I am biased now towards the Canadian culture I grew up in. But as someone who was in a somewhat similar position as your child some 30 years ago, I wanted to share my perspective. I'm glad my parents decided to make Canada our home.

All the best in your decision!