This is a wonderful goal. Have you met many people to help you practice? Bill

 fighting

 Yes, I agree with Bill, this is a wonderful goal! I wish we lived closer - I would be glad to help! as I have done tutoring in English here. Best of luck to you

A few years ago I wanted to learn Spanish, so I signed up for spanish classes at a local Spanish school. After I learned some of the basics I set up a "language exchange" with a guy from Mexico who had recently moved to Canada (where I live). He was studying English as a second language at a local school.

We met weekly for about 2 hours. For the first hour we would speak only English and we would have conversations about stories in the news and talk about culture in Canada and Mexico and lots of other things. The next hour we would only talk in Spanish. We would also discuss our homework and help each other out. I didn't use this as a substitute for classes, but the added conversation time improved my speaking and comprehension a lot.

I got in contact with this language exchange through a teacher at a local English school for new immigrants. The teacher knew I was studying Spanish and looking to talk with people who speak Spanish. Some language schools have bulletin boards where people can share contact information. Also, our local library has a bulletin board where people can put up notes saying they are looking for a language exchange. There are probably lots of English speaking people studying Japanese in your area who would be interested in a language exchange. 

Good luck to you!