One question keeps landing in my inbox: “Do I need to learn Japanese before going to Japan?” Honest answer: no, you can travel Japan without speaking a word. But another, equally honest answer is that learning even fifty words and how to read the kana radically changes the trip. It’s the difference between crossing a country and meeting one.
I still remember a dinner in a small izakaya in Shimokitazawa about ten years ago, my Japanese limited to three phrases, and the almost touching patience of the chef who explained each dish (see also What to Eat in Japan) with gestures and a smile. That was the night I decided to actually do something about it.
I’ve lived in Japan for over a decade and my Japanese is decent without being brilliant. If I had to prepare for a trip from scratch, here’s what I’d do.
How long before you leave?
It depends on the goal. Three possible levels:
Survival (2 weeks before). Learn fifty useful phrases: introducing yourself, asking for the bill, saying thanks/sorry, asking if you can come into a restaurant, asking where the toilets are. Bare minimum, doable at one hour a day for two weeks.
Comfort (3 months before). Learn hiragana and katakana (the two basic syllabaries, about 100 characters total), a hundred vocabulary words, and twenty simple sentence structures. At this level, you read menus, ask simple questions in an izakaya, follow a very basic conversation with a shopkeeper. This is my recommended level for a real first trip.
Deep travel (12-18 months before). Reaching JLPT N5 (the lowest official level) takes about 150 hours of study. At that stage, you start to understand short conversations and read simple texts with a few kanji. For most travelers, that’s too much investment for a 2-3 week trip.
My advice for most: aim for Comfort level. It’s largely enough to transform the trip.
What to do, in concrete order
1. Hiragana first. 46 characters, the threshold that separates the passive traveler from the active one. Once you have them, you can decipher anything, even without knowing the meaning. You recognize station names, dish names, signs. About 10-15 days at 20 minutes a day. The free Tofugu Learn Hiragana app is excellent.
2. Katakana next. 46 more characters, used mostly for foreign words (so a lot of dish names at restaurants, brands, foreign cities). Another 10 days.
3. A handful of useful kanji. Not all of them (there are 2,000 in common use), but thirty that show up everywhere: ε ₯ (entrance), εΊ (exit), η· (man), ε₯³ (woman), ι§ (station), ε (yen), ζ°΄ (water), η« (fire), 倧/δΈ/ε° (big/medium/small), the numbers. These 30 kanji save you in 80% of practical situations.
4. Survival vocabulary. A hundred essential words and expressions. Numbers up to 10,000. Days, hours. Common situations: restaurant, hotel, train, shop.
Best resources, free and paid
For the kana:
- Tofugu (free), excellent guides and visual mnemonics (the idea: tie each character to an image that recalls its shape, like below)
- Dr. Moku (paid app, ~$5), image-association memorization
For vocabulary:
- Anki (free on desktop, paid on iPhone), spaced-repetition flashcards. The most effective method I know
- WaniKani (~$10/month), kanji-focused, very gradual. For those who want to go further
For grammar and sentences:
- Genki I (textbook, ~$30), the universal reference for beginning Japanese. A bit school-like but solid
- NHK World Japanese Lessons (free), short audio lessons, very well done
- Duolingo, useful for daily streak, but not enough on its own
For speaking and pronunciation:
- Pimsleur Japanese, audio-only oral method, ideal in the car or while walking
- iTalki, video lessons with native teachers from $8-10/hour. Once a week for two months works wonders
The phrases that will serve you most
The phrases I use most in daily life and would memorize cold:
- Sumimasen (γγΏγΎγγ), Excuse me / Sorry. Universal. Used for everything: calling the waiter, asking to pass, lightly apologizing
- Arigatou gozaimasu (γγγγ¨γγγγγΎγ), Thank you, formal
- Onegaishimasu (γι‘γγγΎγ), Please, after a request
- Kore wo kudasai (γγγγγ γγ), This one, please (with a finger on the menu)
- Eigo ga hanasemasu ka? (θ±θͺγθ©±γγΎγγοΌ), Do you speak English?
- Ikura desu ka? (γγγγ§γγοΌ), How much is it?
- Wakarimasen (γγγγΎγγ), I don’t understand
- Toire wa doko desu ka? (γγ€γ¬γ―γ©γγ§γγοΌ), Where are the toilets?
- Oishii! (ηΎε³γγ), Delicious. Use it often
- Gochisousama deshita (γγ‘γγγγΎγ§γγ), Said when leaving a restaurant. Earns enormous respect
What not to do
Don’t learn Japanese from anime without a method backbone. Anime Japanese is informal, often masculine, often crude. You risk sounding like a manga character, which is very funny to Japanese speakers, but not in the good way.
Don’t focus only on kanji. Kanji are fascinating and easy to get lost in, but without grammar and base vocabulary, they don’t help you speak.
Small confession: it took me almost three years to realize I was mixing up kawaii (cute) and kowai (scary) when speaking to a former neighbor. He was too polite to correct me. So please do better than I did.
Don’t be afraid of speaking badly. Japanese people are remarkably patient and kind with foreigners who try. Even broken Japanese is a thousand times more appreciated than imposing English.
My ideal 3-month plan
If you asked me to plan the prep for someone leaving in 3 months:
- Weeks 1-2: hiragana + katakana, 30 minutes a day
- Weeks 3-6: Genki I chapters 1-5, plus 30 Anki cards a day
- Weeks 7-10: Genki I chapters 6-10, plus one iTalki lesson a week
- Weeks 11-12: intensive review of useful phrases, NHK World podcasts
At that pace, you arrive in Japan with broken but functional Japanese. You’ll catch metro announcements, read menus, hold a mini-conversation. And the smile you’ll get the first time a shopkeeper understands your broken Japanese will be worth those 90 hours of study many times over.
To prep the rest of your trip, see also my How to Travel Around Japan guide and the Japan FAQ.