Advice Setting Up & Living in Japan. Tokyo

Hey ya'll. I'm going to be living in Tokyo for the next three years as a full time student. Around the Shinjuku area.

My school does have a few days of orientation to help out and get students adjusted... but I want to get as prepared as I possibly can before hand. I'm in the process of getting my Visa, just waiting on my CEO right now. I'm scheduled to go around the 15th of next month. I'm equally as stressed out as I am excited lol... Should I be?

I guess one of my biggest concerns is actually the train system, I took a trip to Tokyo last year and I admit.. I did get lost, I can't remember if I got off on the wrong stop, got on the wrong part of the train or what but in the end, I ended up taking a taxi to my hotel. One thing is for sure, I'll be wanting to get me one of those rail passes to commute to and from the school.

Keep in mind my Japanese level is of an absolute beginner level. I mean I know a bunch of phrases and words, basic counting, hiragana, and few things about the culture. But I'm not going to lie and say I'm anything more than a no good beginner. I wish I had been more consistent with self-studying this past year, but coulda woulda shoulda. I'm working on getting a good foundation under my belt before I go. I will be taking Japanese courses in school so there's that. But maybe you have tips on what I should really focus in on over the next month? :)

Another thing is, I'm wondering what I should do for a cell phone. A guy at verison told me I could use my current iphone over there with a sim card.. As a full time student I'm obviously going to be a bit conservative in spending. But I imagine being able to use my smart phone would have it's advantages over some flip phone.

I guess some tips on how to meet people, make friends, find groups of similar interests, maybe even some dating stuff (I'm a dude) would be good to know too.

Sorry, I'm sure there's no end to the questions I could ask so if you have just in general anything that I really need to know, maybe from your own experiences. Would love to hear some stories if you're willing to share 'em. I'd appreciate the hell out of it. I know there's a wellspring of articles I can look up by myself and trust me I will but I'd be sure to overlook something! and hearing from actual people would be nice.

Maybe a few fun things too, like things to do around that area or close by. I do know to avoid Roppongi. lol, even in the US.. that bar hopping-party all night scene is not my cup of tea. Any cool conventions or things like that? I guess you gotta know my interests; I'm not big into anime, nothing against it though, I am however huge into video games, and I like comic books (Marvel/DC), I love Japanese music... my itunes is mostly Japanese bands. I definitely want to take a couple trips outside of Tokyo when I have the time, have my eye on Kyoto.

Trains: Hyperdia is your friend (although some prefer Google Maps).

Commuter pass: you will need a certificate from your school, then go to a ticket counter to buy it. We can't give more information unless you tell us what your departure and arrival stations are.

Cellphones: do a search here, there are a lot of threads about this already.

Making friends: there is no magic recipe. Join a club or something.

I used the Meet-up app on my phone to meet people when I moved to Japan. Lots of different events for foreigners and lots of events have a decent mix of foreigners and Japanese.

Other than that making friends isn't that much different from other places.

Trains - get on them and practice - print a map of both the JR and metro systems (and maybe the private networks too, but best thing is to learn by doing.

Phones - unless you have a resident card (which you might given a 3-year study trip) you will be on a data plan. VoIP works well so use skype/Line/FB/Whatsapps or whatever else you like.

If you stay as a student for three years, of course you get a resident card...

I advise you bring your credit card to Japan.

Yes; you may be able to get a Japanese one through your university (I recently got one myself), but it will have a low credit limit (mine is 50k), so if you intend to make big purchases by card, it's better to also keep your current credit/debit card if you have one.

Note however that virtually all Japan-based online merchants offer some alternative payment methods besides cards, so it's mostly useful for foreign merchants.

Just curious, what are you going to study for 3 years, is it just langaguge or enrolling into university later?
I thought language courses are more like 1 year or 2