Is the on'yomi kanji reading really needed if I'm going to Japan?


Is the on'yomi kanji reading really needed if I'm going to Japan?




> Is the on'yomi kanji reading really needed if I'm going to Japan?

Depends.

  * Are you going to Japan to sight-see, and you don't care to read signs, menus, media?  
  
Then, **no** , you don't need to learn the _on'yomi_ of the kanji.  

  * Are you going to Japan to study or otherwise immerse yourself in the culture, and you want to be able to read?  
  
Then, **yes, absolutely** , you need to learn the _on'yomi_ of the kanji.

As user @[Angelos](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/users/9971/) noted in
their [comment](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/91144/is-the-
onyomi-kanji-reading-really-needed-if-im-going-to-japan#comment-148763), many
Japanese words that are spelled in kanji are only read with the _on'yomi_.
Many of these words are very basic vocabulary.

If you don't learn the _on'yomi_ of the kanji, you will be functionally
illiterate. Whether learning the _on'yomi_ is "really needed" all comes down
to what you yourself personally need for your trip.

