First Time in Japan

I've dreaming about doing so for so long, And now is the time, this year I'm going to Japan for the first time. For being a first timer I've almost planned everything ahead, bought things and know where to go once I land in Japan. But are still a couple of things I've yet to master, like the language, the writing or even reading, I know many people have said that its not necessary and the majority of visitors don't understand I single thing, but at least I want to be able to enjoy my trip with a little of understanding of what I'm doing and saying, any how my reason for this post is that I wanna be able to make some friends in Japan so when I visit, be able to explore more and beyond of those places shown on a travel guide or so (I don't known if I'm being cleared ... I get that a lot due to excitement!! COME ON IT's JAPAN haha).

Question is if not here; where can I get to meet new people that are willing to spend some time chatting before actually meeting in Japan to hangout?

I'm asking for a couple of Japanese people that live in Japan that have a passion for their hometown and want to talk about it (it'll be very appreciated) and actually become friends with one another (I'd be glad if anyone who has the same interest as me would be a friend tho). Well if you read this far your probably thinking it'll be interesting to chat with me right? haha no really Thanks if you made it this far.

If anything just let me know, Thanks. (I still have much more to say haha)

If you wanna learn the language and also make friends you might as well kill two birds with one stone by getting the Hello Talk app on your phone or signing up to Italki.

I'm actually going to Japan for my first time this year as well next month and from what I know as long as you're visiting a major city (Tokyo,Osaka,Kyoto,etc....) then you shouldn't have any problems because they're so used to English tourism. That said, it is still good to know some Japanese and in fact a lot of people will be happy that you took the time and effort to learn even some of their language, and respect you more for it. I have been using Pimsleur Japanese and have had pretty good results in a short amount of time for basic conversational Japanese, in fact I've actually been complemented on by a native speaker on one occasion. It does have shortcomings though , it is outdated on some parts and does not teach writing. As mentioned in a previous comment "Italki" is a great resource as well to get cheap tutoring and maybe meet some people to hang out with on your trip.