A flashcard software was what enabled me at the start. I tried AnkiSRS and just learned a bunch of words/kana/kanji. It gets very inefficient to just use flashcards after a while, but software like Anki keeps you on a daily workflow. Ankiweb has ready made decks, and as Japanese is extremely popular, you should be able to find good quality decks.
A flashcard software was what enabled me at the start. I tried AnkiSRS and just learned a bunch of words/kana/kanji. It gets very inefficient to just use flashcards after a while, but software like Anki keeps you on a daily workflow. Ankiweb has ready made decks, and as Japanese is extremely popular, you should be able to find good quality decks.