Is it hard for a foreigner to get by in Japan?

Question:

What I mean is, do many people speak English? Are things like menus and signs written in both Japanese characters and the Romanized version (I would never expect them to be written in English). Is it reasonably easy to get by with certain phrases?

Answer:

Train station signs and major streets signs will be translated. However food menus are for the most part in Japanese (no romanization etc).

Generally if you go to the tourist areas you can travel around pretty easily. At restaurants, good old body language, phrase books etc help most tourists get by.

If you intend to live there, learning the language really helps out.