You can find several sites with useful phrases for travelers. However, in Japan you might easily find yourself unable to find the toilet, or to understand a coin's value (bills also use Western numbering, but coins only have kanji!) So, here's a list of (what I hope should be) most of the essentials :)
One useful tip is to always print out the kanji of everywhere you want to go, including station names, and keep it with you! Or, if you can't print it out, copy/paste it (or keep a screenshot) on your phone.
Start here first
| お手洗い |
Toilets (you may also see it as トイレ, or more rarely, 化粧室） |
| 男 |
Men |
| 女 |
Women |
Moving around
| 上 | up |
| 下 | down |
| 右 | right |
| 左 | left |
| 入口 | entrance |
| 出口 | exit |
| 東 | east (for station exits) |
| 西 | west |
| 北 | north |
| 南 | south |
| 開 | open (for elevators) |
| 閉 | close |
| 駅 | station (train) |
Food and drink
| 小 | small |
| 中 | medium / inside |
| 大 | large |
| 水 | water |
| 茶 | tea |
| 豚 | pork |
| 牛 | beef |
| 鳥 | bird (look for it as part of other kanji!) |
| 魚 | fish (look for it as part of other kanji!) |
| 卵 | egg |
| 米 | rice (raw) |
| ご飯 | rice (boiled) |
| 寿司 | sushi |
| 野菜 | vegetables |
Watch out
| 注意 | caution |
| 禁止 | forbidden |
| 危険 | danger |
| 警告 | warning |
Money
| 円 | yen |
| 一 | one |
| 二 | two |
| 三 | three |
| 四 | four |
| 五 | five |
| 六 | six |
| 七 | seven |
| 八 | eight |
| 九 | nine |
| 十 | ten |
| 百 | hundred |
| 千 | thousand |
| 万 | ten thousand |
Sightseeing
| 日 | Sun/Sunday |
| 月 | Moon/Monday |
| 火 | Fire/Tuesday |
| 水 | Water/Wednesday |
| 木 | Wood/Tree/Thursday |
| 金 | Gold/Money/Friday |
| 土 | Ground/Saturday |
| 年 | Year |
| 時 | Hour/Time |
| 分 | Piece/Minute |
| 秒 | Second (1/60 minute) |
Transportation (optional)
| 歩行者 | Pedestrians (this is your lane when walking!) |
| 自転車 | Bicycles (this is your lane when cycling!) |
| 電車 | Train |
| 地下鉄 | Metro (underground train) |
| 自動車 | Car |
| バス | Bus |
| 空港 | Airport |
Still alive and breathing? :)
If you still want to study more, I suggest that you learn the Katakana. 95% of what's written in Katakana is actually English! Find a nice page with mnemonics and prepare your flashcards!
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