Rating: 
Summary: Great Substitute For Classroom Japanese
Review: Atually, I would give it 4 1/2 stars, but that is not possible. It's not perfect (but then, what is?) My wife and I (kanai to watashi) are going to visit Japan in a few months and we wanted to get a basic working knowledge of the language. I though we really would be missing too much if we didn't know any Japanese.
After going through several audio courses (some spoke so fast we were about ready to give up in complete despair), I found Pimsleur and this course has been by far the best of any. Yes, they are expensive, but the quality is far superior to others and generally the teaching speed is about right (although by the end of the first set and the start of the 2nd set), the pace really picks up. Sometimes, phrases are not repreated, which is frustrating, but all in all, it's very good. We found that we can actually have some simple conversations in Japanese - pretty amazing for two people who didn't know a word a few months ago.
I would recommend though that if at all possible, make it a point to get a good Japanese/English dictionary and also a good grammar book. "Japanese for Busy People" is excellent. Both of us are "visual people" and we need the reinforcement of the written word. We're also doing reading in Romanji - maybe technically not the "correct way", but then again it will be "close enough." Maybe our accent won't be quite right, but so what. Does it matter that much? At least we are making the effort and trying to do our best.
Other reviewers also have the right idea when they recommend "practice, practice." In the car is fine, but wait until after you have heard the lesson at least once before. It's too hard and dangerous to try to "get it" the first time while driving. I also try to conduct simple dialogs in my head while at work, doing other things and so on.
We also wish we could practice and learn with a real Japanese native speaker, but with us living in a rural area, that is unfortunately not possible, so this is the next best thing.
Finally, get a few books on Japanese culture and history. You really need those to give you the proper foundation as why the language is structured in certain ways. Besides, the cultural and historical studies should be fascinating in their own right and it does seem to be much point in visiting a country if one is missing the cultural background. This is especially true for a country with customs so different from our own.
Once we get to Japan, we'll see if all this hard work was worth it. Sayonara!
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the money? I'm not sure.
Review: I am about half way through Pimsleur's Japanese I tapes. Although the real test will be when I arrive in Japan, I can already say that I have learned quite a bit. The Pimsleur format is great because it really helps with listening skills and pronunciation. I find the lessons easy to follow along with and I retain most of the vocubalary. I was previously working from the Japanese for Busy People book alone, and I can tell you that the Pimsleur tapes have saved me from mispronouncing a lot of the words I learned. All in all, I am quite pleased with the tapes.
However, I cannot say that they are worth the incredibly high price. They are, after all, little more than cassettes/CDs that consist of Japanese speakers repeating words and phrases. I cannot imagine why the price is so high. Were this product about a third of its present price, I would rate it 4 or 5 stars. My advice: buy it used, borrow from a friend, split the cost with someone, or check the library.
Rating:
Summary: Pimsleur Japanese I
Review: I bought the 4 tape version originally, then purchased this full version and find it a great way to begin a study of the Japanese language. This system does not require that you follow along with a study guide or write things so it is ideal to use during the wasted hours most of us use up while commuting to work. But, this is in no way a complete system. Although you will get a basic knowledge of the language, if you ever hope to become truly proficient in Japanese, you will need to buy several books to study from along with this course. Using the Pimsleur system and a few text books enables you to not only see and learn the correct structure of the language, but also (via the tapes) hear the spoken language in a logical progression of lessons. So, the bottom line is that this is a good starting point, but it must be supplemented with good text books and if at all possible, exposure to actual people fluent in Japanese.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent foundation on which to build upon...
Review: I finally completed Pimsleur's Japanese I and am working on II. I found PJI to be the best foundation for the Japanese language to learn from! I checked out other teach-yourself's from the local library and none of them were able to teach me nearly as much. The Pimsleur approach truly is an effective one. Granted, you do need additional sources to study from. Kanji... Kana... none of these are learned of course. I learned the kana before picking up PJI and would read as much as possible from websites like Yahoo.co.jp, Apple.co.jp, etc. I now have a penpal that I correspond with and am able to comprehend a decent portion of her letters, most of the structure being taught from PJI. I also often chat online with Japanese natives, and although it is through text and not speech, they still comment that "I am very skilled." I can't wait to see what PJII brings. Thank you Dr. Pimsleur!
Rating: 
Summary: A good introduction to Japanese, but could be improved
Review: I found these tapes to be an adequate introduction to the Japanese language, but still felt as though something was missing at the end of the 30 lessons. Upon completion of the course, I had a nice collection of travel oriented phrases, but not much else that could be used in everyday small talk. There is one very important phrase everyone should learn no matter which foreign language they study ("where is the toilet?"). The accompanying booklet is very nearly useless. I would recommend buying a small phrase book (Rough Guide to Japanese is nice) to go with this course. My MAIN complaint with this set is the price gouging practices of the Pimsleur company. You can buy the Traveler's Edition (15 lessons) for about $60, and it is really just the first half of the full 30 cassette Japanese Level One. Why doesn't Pimsleur offer the second half of Level One for another $60 instead of charging you about $240 for the full set? I think we all know the answer to that! Pricing aside, I think the Pimsleur method is probably the most effective audio method for foreign language learning available. I've used several of the other courses out there (Barron's, Hugo, Berlitz, Living Language, Teach Yourself), and like the Pimsleur lessons the best. If you want a nice book with which to study Japanese on your own, I would recommend "Japanese for Busy People"
Rating:
Summary: It is good
Review: I found this tape course excellent. Basically it's easy to use because you can listen in your car and don't need a textbook. I have just ordered level 2 and 3 after completing level 1.
Rating: 
Summary: some of the speakers aren't japanese
Review: I have a friend who wants to learn Japanese and I've been looking for the right material for him to learn with. I heard a couple of audio clips from Japanese 2 and 3, and apparently, some of the speakers aren't native speakers of Japanese. Especially there is one female speaker who has a strange accent, and I wouldn't recommend this to my friend since I don't want him to have that accent. She is understandable and sounds almost like Japanese, but not quite.They should re-record the audio because I personally like the method very much.
Rating:
Summary: It's good but is it worth the money?
Review: I have found a better way to learn japanese in a couple of weeks for free! Just go to www.japanese-online.com
Rating: 
Summary: Female and male Japanese are SUPPOSED to sound different
Review: I have just started Pimsleur--I'm using it to supplement Berlitz (because Berlitz isn't teaching me normal conversational vocabulary, it's set up with all these artificial scenes, so you don't even learn to say HI, HOW ARE YOU for a while... but I digress). So far I like Pimsleur because it does indeed teach everything at once--grammar, vocab, etc. One thing I have to point out to other reviewers is that IT IS NORMAL for the female speaker to pronounce things differently from the male speaker--what she's actually doing is using different intonation, so it sounds different--because THAT'S HOW JAPANESE WORKS: women and men don't sound the same. What I'm noticing so far is that the woman's intonation sounds more lively and question-y, while the man's is a little flatter and gruffer. But, having already learned a lot about Japanese culture and society on my own, I know that this is normal. At least Pimsleur is using native speakers of both sexes so that you can hear this in action.
Rating:
Summary: Learning Japanese with Pimsleur.
Review: I just finished the set of 30 Japanese lessons. It is a good way to start learning while driving in the car. However, it is not a complete way to learn. Since there is no reading involved, you can easily get caught misunderstanding how to pronounce some words. My Japanese friend has confirmed many times that I was not hearing a word correctly. But it is probably one of the better ways to begin getting immersed in a language.
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