Not OP, but for the most part you can get around fine without knowing Japanese. In two trips across Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Gunma, and Sapporo, the only transporta

Not OP, but for the most part you can get around fine without knowing Japanese. In two trips across Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Gunma, and Sapporo, the only transportation there wasn't any English for was a normal bus route in Sapporo; all other modes of major transportation, even buses in major cities, have English announcements and visual indicators. For the bus I mentioned though, I just used Google Maps/GPS on my phone and guesstimated where to pull the stop request cord, etc. For communicating with people, Google Translate works decently well. Obviously knowing Japanese would be ideal, and you should learn a few phrases, but it's ok to use Google as needed. Can't speak for super rural areas, though.