I joining Joel, I went to Japan as well with only a digital dictionary and 2 (good) guidebooks in my own language (helps!). I did not speak the language at all, and to communicate I used body language 90% of the time. It went fine, had a lot of laughs that way & now im learning for that the second time I got there I can communicate 50% of the time with my mouth ;)
P.s. Joel, what happend? Its annoying they don’t have any street signs ey?
Life is like a new world, you have to explore it in your own way.