Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good book
Review: A good book. A bit easy, perhaps, in the excercise sections. If you want something a bit more challenging, something like Japanese for Everyone could be good. However, JFBP is a nice, clear textbook for the beginner (like me). You will probably want to learn hiragana and katakana faster than it requires, especially if you actually come to Japan.
Rating:
Summary: Learning Japanese
Review: As a self taught student that started out with absolutely no Japanese whatsoever, it has been a great help to me. Living in Japan, it has helped me somewhat to communicate with japanese people on everyday excursions. The book gives survival japanese ready for immediate use and broken into different situations that you may find yourself in. For a foreigner as myself, living in Japan, it is a must. Definitely needs the tapes though for pronounciation, which you will find that without, is a big hinderance.
Rating:
Summary: Learning Japanese
Review: As a self taught student that started out with absolutely no Japanese whatsoever, it has been a great help to me. Living in Japan, it has helped me somewhat to communicate with japanese people on everyday excursions. The book gives survival japanese ready for immediate use and broken into different situations that you may find yourself in. For a foreigner as myself, living in Japan, it is a must. Definitely needs the tapes though for pronounciation, which you will find that without, is a big hinderance.
Rating: 
Summary: Japanese for Busy People
Review: Great book for people wishing to learn basic conversation fast!.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Resource for Basic Japanese
Review: I am in the process of learning the Japanese language, and have purchased many books and other resources to help me do this. "Japanese For Busy People" is the one I find myself returning to most to help me integrate the whole language (spoken and written). I cannot recommend it more highly.As your budget allows, I would recommend working through the entire JFBP series, including the audio resources. As your strength in the language grows, there are many other resources which you will wish to use, of course. Remember that your most important advantage in learning the language will be your own desire to succeed. Gambatte!
Rating:
Summary: If you are only going to get one Japanese text, get this one
Review: I discovered this book when it was used in a beginning Japanese language course at the local county college. I travel back and forth to Japan a lot and missed classes sometimes. I had the book with me most of the time, and almost everyone I talk to in Japan recognizes the book as a popular text for teaching Japanese to foreigners. What I like most about the book is that I didn't have any trouble keeping up with the occasional missed class, because the book is so self-explanatory. You can work through the lessons on your own and get almost as much out of it as you do from the class.
Rating:
Summary: A good start, a good foundation
Review: I first used this book as part of my Japanese language course at university. I found the chapter dialogues very useful, and the grammar points are explained in a very concised way. I came to Japan after studying the first book, which gave me the very basic foundation to continue with more advanced studies. This book should be used in conjunction with other books like 'Shin Nihon go no Kiso I' to get a more thorough range of Japanese vocabulary, (although my Japanese teacher said the vocabularies used in 'Nihon go no kiso' are quite specialised in some cases, e.g. phrases like 'welding pipes' is found in the text, which is not really needed for everyday situations!). For beginners, I highly recommend this book as a starter for self-study.
Rating:
Summary: A good start, a good foundation
Review: I first used this book as part of my Japanese language course at university. I found the chapter dialogues very useful, and the grammar points are explained in a very concised way. I came to Japan after studying the first book, which gave me the very basic foundation to continue with more advanced studies. This book should be used in conjunction with other books like 'Shin Nihon go no Kiso I' to get a more thorough range of Japanese vocabulary, (although my Japanese teacher said the vocabularies used in 'Nihon go no kiso' are quite specialised in some cases, e.g. phrases like 'welding pipes' is found in the text, which is not really needed for everyday situations!). For beginners, I highly recommend this book as a starter for self-study.
Rating: 
Summary: "How not to learn Japanese"
Review: I have seen many people study using this book. I think the name alone must sell a lot. I've never seen anyone gain real proficiency, though. If your goal is to gain a logical understanding of the grammar and some vocabulary while avoiding fluency, then this is the book for you. The problem is that the book presents itself as a method to gain fluency, but it is very light on exercises. In order to gain fluency, you must practice fluency. Building vocab, reading dialogues, and reading essays on grammar will never get you there. I highly recommend that people serious about gaining fluency supplement this book with something that is more exercise intensive. Or better yet, buy something else.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Self Study Japanese Book Available
Review: I lived in Japan for 11/2 years before I decided to get serious and learn the language. I already had a vocabulary base, but couldn't use it very well. This book taught me how to use the vocabulary I already had and improved it quite a bit. With the use of this book, I was able to pass the Level 4 Japanese Proficiency Test conducted by the Japanese government. And in only 30 to 45 minutes a week! The workbook and CD's proved very valuable as well. If you want to learn Japanese, this is the book for you
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