Learn Japanese Language and travel to Japan in backpack.  

I love to learn Japanese too and I have actually bought a book for self learner from the local bookstore POPULAR, there are a total of 4 books for this Japanese oral course (from entry level to advanced level) and with each book there are 2 CDs, just follow the lessons accordingly, you will definately know the basic,I have finished learning to read and write HIRAGANA but have stop learning so far due to some personal reason but this is just for temporary,I will continue when I can. This oral Japanese Course in the very first lesson already prepare the self-learner to "listen" without refering the book,by this way you will get used to listen and speak in Japanese. There are people who know how to read Japanese but are poor in terms of speaking and listening.Another tip is, when you learn Japanese, dont think in English spelling,this way when you see a Japanese word in HIRAGANA you will definately know how to read it.

I'm American, and learning Japanese now as well. For me, the Hiragana and Katakana were fairly simple to learn. It's taking me a while to read it fluently and quickly, though. Kanji is very complicated for me, since I'm not familiar with even the concept of Kanji. So you certainly have an advantage over me ^.^

http://www.manythings.org/japanese/links/ - this link has a lot of sites on it, hopefully some things can help you out.

I also want to visit Japan one day. I hear that their climate is similar to where I live (Ohio, in the US). And the culture and history of Japan is great interest to me.

Gambatte kudasai!