This is kind of a difficult question to answer. But the simple answer is.. yes… and no.

I think that learning Japanese is extremely difficult, but it's only extremely difficult in the sense that it takes a long time. Anything that requires a consistent effort over a long period of time is going to be difficult.

As a language, though, I think that Japanese is relatively easy to learn.

説明(せつめい)させていただきます
setsumei sasete itadakimasu
Allow me to explain.

Reasons People Say Japanese Is Difficult

Here I'll give a brief breakdown of some misguided claims that people tend to make about the difficulty of the Japanese language…

The kanji are impossible! - Negative Nancy

I think that this is the single biggest misconception of the Japanese language. I'm guilty of thinking that the kanji were impossible, too. I used to hate studying kanji. It felt like I was trying to swim across the ocean, the shore nowhere in sight.

Now, though, I have a much different perspective. I think that the kanji are one of the simplest aspects of learning Japanese. And, not only that, knowing the kanji makes Japanese so much easier. They are a foundation for rapid vocab acquisition. They are a tool for guessing the meaning of words that you have never seen before. There is an interesting article on the website JapaneseRuleof7.com that talks about how the avoidance of kanji in the Japanese classroom is a huge mistake, and I totally agree with him.

I'll go into a lot of detail about the kanji in Phase #2, but for now I'll just say one thing:

I memorized 2,000 kanji in under three months, and I have had dozens of readers from my site that have done the same.

So, no, the kanji are not impossible.

The grammar is crazy! - Person Who Knows Very Little About Japanese Grammar

This one is kind of true, honestly. I remember a long, long time ago, I bought an intro to basic Japanese grammar book (I used to buy all sorts of useless books). And in the first chapter, they talked about sentence order, saying something like:

English is “Subject -> Verb -> Object (SVO)," but Japanese is “Subject -> Object -> Verb (SOV)."

And I'm pretty sure I read another book that phrased it this way:

Blah, blah, blah.

Gross. Why did I try to learn that as a beginner? What a waste of time.

Yeah, grammar is certainly different. But I don't think that logical explanations of grammar concepts are useful for learning a language. Sure, it's useful to read that explanation at least once. But it's a disaster if you try to think about those things while speaking or writing Japanese.

Do you think about the subject, verb, and object of every sentence that you say in English? Can you identify them while still maintaining a native-speed conversation? If so, you're amazing. But don't waste your time trying to do that in Japanese.

Japanese grammar is much different than English, but it's also very, very simple. And after you've used it for a while, you shouldn't need to think about how to form solid, complete, accurate sentences. It will just feel natural.

Reasons Japanese Is Actually Easy

Now we can go to the fun part—reasons Japanese is easy! Yay!

Japanese pronunciation is very simple. - All the cool kids

Like, so simple.

Consider this:

• Japanese has 5 vowel sounds.
• English has 19 vowel sounds!
• Japanese has 18 consonant sounds.
• English has 24 consonant sounds!
  (consonant sounds are estimates, as they are difficult to count)

Put simply, a native English speaker should be able to pronounce all of the sounds of Japanese with minimal difficulty.

Japanese has a shallow orthographic depth. - Professors of Linguistics

Say what?

Orthographic depth is the degree to which a language is spelled the same way that it sounds. A language with a deep orthographic depth is difficult to read phonetically, as many of the sounds will vary. English is like this, and it's a nightmare for foreign learners. For example, how many of these words sound the same, or different…

• Query, very
• Tow, vow, row, bow, bow
• Monkey, donkey
• Grasp, wasp
• Though, through, plough, dough, cough

Students often ask me, “Why is English spelling so complicated?" I answer by sweating nervously. Or saying, “Because, of course." Or, “Shut up, you."

Honestly, I feel so bad for people trying to learn English sometimes.

Languages with a shallow orthographic depth are the opposite of this—words are almost always pronounced exactly as they are written. For example, Spanish has a shallow orthographic depth. If you know the basics of pronouncing Spanish syllables (which can vary by regions), then you should be able to read almost any passage aloud.

And, lucky us, Japanese also has an extremely shallow orthographic depth. Word sounds are always pronounced exactly as they are spelled. So if you can read the characters, then you should be able to read almost any passage aloud accurately.

There is one exception to this, unfortunately, and it's the problem of Japanese intonation and rhythm, which can be a bit tricky to master. But mastering this mostly comes naturally from language exposure, so you don't need to worry about it too much. I'll talk about this more in the pronunciation section in Phase #2! (You're reading Phase #1 right now.)

The reason that I think having a shallow orthographic depth makes a language much easier is that you often understand words the first time you hear them, simply because you have read them in a book, or because you know the building blocks (i.e. kanji) of that word.

Whereas, for example, many Japanese students of English can't catch the meaning of a word in a conversation, even though they would be able to understand it if they saw it written down. That's because English is pronounced so differently than it is written. Aside from crazy “rules" about phonetic spelling, we also have liaisons (word linking), meaning through stress, and countless accents and dialects.

It's easy to find language partners. - Me, speaking from experience

Since so many Japanese people want to learn English (and are struggling with it), it's extremely easy to find enthusiastic language exchange partners. In other words, it's extremely easy to practice using Japanese in a casual setting, even if you don't live in Japan.

I'll talk more about language partners towards the end of Phase #1.

Things That Will Always Be Difficult in Japanese

Okay, so I've listed a lot of reasons that I think Japanese is not at all impossible to tackle. However, it would be dishonest of me to say that there's nothing difficult about Japanese as a language. In particular, there is one thing that I still have a problem with even today:

Natural Japanese phrasing is very difficult to acquire.

Allow me to quote the illustrious Tae Kim (who is awesome, by the way):

You should always keep in mind that if you don't know how to say it already, then you don't know how to say it. – Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide

English and Japanese are fundamentally different. I'm really good at Japanese now, but a good portion of my brain is still functioning in English—the part that's writing these sentences right now, the part that wanted to say “piece of cake" to my girlfriend while we were talking this morning. But I can't say that. I mean, yeah, I can literally say “piece of cake" in Japanese, and I can say “it's really easy" in Japanese, but what I want to say is “piece of cake," as an idiom, in Japanese. But that would be wrong.

This is good news, though, because it's an opportunity to learn some fun, new Japanese. To continue Tae Kim's quote:

…if you can, ask someone how to say it in Japanese including a full explanation of the answer and start practicing from Japanese.

If I do that, I might learn the phrase ちょちょいのちょい / cho-choi-no-choi, which, aside from meaning “a piece of cake; a walk in the park," is also super fun to say. Cho-choi-no-choi! Or maybe I'd learn the phrase 朝飯前 / asa meshi mae, which literally means “before breakfast," but is an idiom in Japanese for “really easy."

I think it helps to look at this backwards. Japanese people have a really hard time speaking English for the same reason.

For example, let's say that I'm at a restaurant with my Japanese friend, and we're both looking at the menu, trying to decide what we want to eat.

My Japanese friend, when ready to order, might say, “I decided."

But that's a bit strange in English, isn't it? It would be more natural to say “I'm ready (to order)." Or we could even say “I've decided" or “I know what I want."

The reason my Japanese friend says “I decided" is because, in Japanese, he would say決めた / kimeta, which means, literally, “I decided."

Conversely, if I said ≪注文する≫準備が出来た / chuumon suru junbi ga dekita, literally, “I am prepared to order," or 何食べたいか分かる / nani tabetai ka wakaru, literally, “I know what I want to eat," then my Japanese would sound very strange. We cannot directly translate English into Japanese like this, because the words we say are different from the start.

Multiply this by virtually every situation in life and, yeah, mastering natural phrasing in Japanese is going to take quite a bit of time. I think that it's probably the most difficult aspect of this (or any) language, especially once you get to a higher level.

However, this does not mean that Japanese is hard to learn. It just means that it is hard to reach a level where you can speak like a native Japanese person, where you can phrase sentences naturally and effortlessly—something that will happen naturally over time, given that you've set up a Japanese learning environment conducive to improvement (e.g. followed this guide, created your own system, etc.).

When it comes to the world of language learning, there are two things that I seriously hate:

• 1.The question, “How long does it take to learn [language]?"
• 2.The word “fluent."
  

Okay, maybe “hate" is kind of a strong word. I should say “two meaningless topics that surface again and again when talking about languages."

For this one, I'll take a quote from Benny at FluentIn3Months (who I'll talk about later in the “Speaking Prep" section):

To me the question and answer 'How long does it take to learn a language?' 'X months/years/lifetimes' is ludicrous, as it leaves far too much undefined and only caters to lazy one-size-fits-all mentalities, which is something I personally detest about many major expensive language learning courses. – Benny Lewis, FluentIn3Months

I used to ask these questions all of the time.

• How long will it take me to learn the kanji?
• How long will it take me to be fluent in Japanese?
• How long will it take me to become a translator?

But every time that I was asking these questions, it's because I was feeling impatient or because I was feeling uncertain whether I was actually capable of doing these things. Aside from the obvious truth that when learning a language, one size does not fit all, the time it will take is irrelevant.

People who learn a language are people that commit to learning a language. So, every time I plan to start a new language, I ask myself the following question:

Are you prepared to study and use this language (somewhat) regularly for the rest of your life?

And if my answer to that question is no, then I need to seriously reconsider if I should spend time and money trying to learn this new language. Because, logically speaking, it does not make sense to start learning a language if you're going to stop using it one day. Even if you managed to completely master a language in a few months (which is also a ludicrous concept), it would be largely meaningless if later in life you let that knowledge fade away from misuse.

I remember a long time ago, I was reading a blog somewhere. I can't remember where I saw it, but there was a quote that really stuck with me:

100% is easy. 99% is exhausting.

If you're only 99% committed to doing something, then every time you do it, you have to decide to do it. That is, you have to expend willpower to make it happen.

For example, let's say that I have a serious Frappuccino problem. I drink them way too often, and they're making me gain weight. So I decide that I should avoid Frappuccino. Well, I have two avoidance options, a 99% option and a 100% option:

• 99% - I have decided that I will almost never drink Frappuccino. But every time I drive by my favorite coffee shop, I have to make a conscious decision to not go in and buy a delicious, sweet Frappuccino. Just this once. I can go to the gym tomorrow. I haven't had one for almost a week. It's not a big deal if I have one now. But then, I really shouldn't, because I haven't been exercising lately, and I still haven't lost any weight at all, and I'm really out of shape. But I really, really want one. Just this once. I can eat less for dinner. But then, I always say that, and then I still end up eating a big dinner. Okay, no. No. No Frappuccino today.
  
  
• 100% - Hey look, my favorite coffee shop. I'd really love a Frappuccino. But, well, I don't drink Frappuccino.

100% is a rule. There's no negotiation involved. There's no willpower involved. That's just the way it is.

99% is a constant struggle. I'm always fighting, because I always have the option to [do X] or [not do X].

So when I study a language, I go 100%. I have my wheel, and I will keep turning it forever.

I know that if I keep riding the bike, I will hit all of those points. It's so relaxing to not worry about when. I will just keep pedaling, enjoy the scenery around me, and then, boom! Super Deadly Ninja Status.

If you really, really, really want to guess how long it will take, though, then we can estimate… but, we have to estimate in hours, not years.

Even the best estimates of how long it takes to learn a language will never be anything more than just that—estimates. No one really knows how long it will take, and the hours required will be different on a person-to-person basis. That said, guessing that you study effectively (e.g. using this guide), then it is possible to make some educated guesses.

For this one, I'm going to defer to a really great post on JapaneseLevelUp.com (JALUP), which I mention from time to time in this guide. JALUP also has a really interesting system for studying Japanese. I'd say it's probably my #2 favorite (Guess what my #1 is). Anyways, here are the goods: “How long does it take to learn Japanese?"

Like I said, “fluent" is vague and largely meaningless. And counting hours is, largely, a waste of time. Although, yeah, it's still fun to do.