And if you can't go to Japan you could try the following:
-Learn to read an write Kanji and Kana
-Install Skype and look for Japanese people to talk to on there
-Go to a site like
language-exchanges.org and find a Japanese pen pal
-Register on
Amazon.co.jp and buy some films and books
-Register on
Lang-8 - Multi-lingual language learning and language exchange and keep a daily journal and have it corrected by native Japanese
-Look for Japanese language forums to do with your interests that you can post on
-Look for Japanese blogs to read
-Change your computers language to Japanese
-Change your browser to Japanese
-Change anything you can to Japanese (Homepage/Consoles/iPod etc.)
-Find a Japanese news site you can read
-Sign up to
ニコニコ動画(ββ)
-Find Japanese music you like
-Sing along to your Japanese music
-If you play internet games try to find a Japanese chat room within the game
-Try to think in Japanese more (Try to re-think your thoughts in Japanese)
-Get a J-J dictionary
-Use Japanese
Google
If you want to learn hands on you can do so much more than just finding a chat group
Hope this helps.