As long as we're mentioning Japanese resources, here are my favs (all paper): * A Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate/Advanced Japanese Grammar, Makino and Tsutsu

As long as we're mentioning Japanese resources, here are my favs (all paper): * A Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate/Advanced Japanese Grammar, Makino and Tsutsui. These have 99% of all of the grammar you will ever need, and they are packed with lots of helpful example sentences. * Remembering the Kanji, Volumes I and II (III is extra credit), James W. Heisig. Keep in mind you need about a month of dedicated brain time for volume I (great for ALT jobs!), and volume II can then be repeatedly skimmed afterwards while engaging with real texts. * Making Sense of Japanese, Jay Rubin. He has a way of explaining concepts that seem weird to English speakers. * Colloquial Kansai Japanese, D.C. Palter. It is not very fun to get to Japan and realize they don't talk like the text books. If you get the basics of Kansai you'll be less lost in all of western Japan, which shares a lot of features, plus you'll be more aware of the types of variation that are possible. * Polite Fictions, Nancy Sakamoto. This book is getting old, but as long as you remember that times change and culture is a continuum this is a fantastic introduction to group culture. Actually, the first book I learned Japanese from was "Speak Japanese Today," by Taeko Kamiya. It's meant for business travelers and gets you set up with the basics without using the native orthography. I read it when I was 13. Good memories.